The Second Prophecy
by IllusionsOfBliss
Summary: The existence of the Key has changed the destiny of the Wizarding World's 'Chosen One'. A second prophecy and meeting of the two throws both teenagers into one of the hardest tasks they have ever faced.
1. When Dawn Met Harry

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Well, here we go. A little background information on this story... firstly, this story has actually been in works for almost 2 years, which is quite scary! This is mainly because I've gone through periods of inspiration and writing and then some of very little. I was initially hoping to finish the story and then post it so I know that it won't go unfinished... unfortunately only having written 10 chapters in 2 years, I thought posting it and getting reviews might help push me along with it.

Having said that, 2 years of working on something really does make you form quite an attachment to it, I've really tried so hard to get it perfect so be gentle on it, but by all means I'm happy to hear what you think if it'll help me get better each time I write.

Lastly, this is set just after Season 7 Buffy and towards the start of Deathly Hallows, however that happens in the HP universe from Bill and Fleur's wedding onwards will start to become different and veer off into my own storyline (eg. Voldemort does not take down the ministry; therefore Hogwarts is as normal, although things are still very dangerous with increasing various Death Eater attacks).

Here's the Prologue and Chapter 1 - enjoy!

**EDIT:**Thanks to the reviewer who pointed out that I had accidentally called the prologue an epilogue, I always get them mixed up - whoops! Hehe

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><p><span>Prologue<span>

Dawn had already faced so much emotional heartache over the years; the separation of her parents, being uprooted from Los Angeles and moving away from friends, the death of her mother, finding out she was actually a mystical energy created by the Monks, her sister Buffy sacrificing herself to close the portal, the loss of so many friends and watching Sunnydale crumble down to nothing, the list went on... Granted some of them were only fake memories, she still felt a pang deep in her heart when she thought of as she stood up on the Astronomy Tower, gazing down at life below, nothing could compare to the type of pain she felt right at that very moment. With her legs tucked up to her chest, she rested her head on her knees and let the tears flow. Just when she thought that she couldn't face another person, she heard the door creak open behind her. She didn't bother to turn around as the heard the soft, but urgent footsteps behind her because she already knew who would know exactly where to find her.

"Dawn..." she felt a gentle hand placed on the middle of her back.

Giving her eyes a quick wipe with the back of her sleeves, she turned around to face her company, who was crouched down beside her.

"Sorry, Harry," Dawn said weakly, faking a smile. "I just wanted to be alone for a while. Did I miss dinner?"

"Yeah, you did..." he replied awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. "But we can always go down to the kitchens later and have the house elves whip us up something to eat."

She felt Harry's hand slide over to her far shoulder, inviting her to lean against him so she tipped herself over to his side keeping her arms tightly wrapped around her legs. At present, all she yearned for was to be alone; however for Harry she made an exception. Moments passed in silence, in which she was grateful for, however just his comforting presence had caused Dawn's grief to subside a little.

Dawn finally broke the silence. "I still can't believe she's gone."

Harry nodded in agreement, staring up at the stars as he rubbed small, soothing circles on her back. "I still can't believe we finally defeated Voldemort," Harry added, to which Dawn angled her head up to give him a small smile.

"_Ding-dong the wizard's dead_," Dawn sung to no one in particular.

"I'm sorry; I'm not that great at knowing what to say when it comes to something like this..." Harry said solemnly. "And I can't even to begin to imagine what you're feeling right now."

Dawn took his hand and gave it a squeeze as if to say that he'd said exactly the right thing, however uncertain he was of himself. "I can't even imagine what you're feeling. That snake-face has taken so much more from you over the years."

"That's true, but at least I still have you."

* * *

><p><span>Chapter One – When Dawn Met Harry<span>

At about ten o'clock on a bright, mild morning, after following her sister and Willow across the globe for several months, Dawn arrived with them in London. Since the collapse of the Hellmouth, they had been travelling to many unusual and exotic locations around the world in search of slayers. Dawn knew they were very much playing it by ear, however not being of age just yet, she generally followed the older women without much complaint, although she did have her occasional moments of frustration.

She often felt like the most useless of the group, it seemed like everyone else had a function for the greater cause. Willow had been able to use her tracing spells to help track down the slayers, while Buffy would step in to help them realise their responsibilities as a slayer and to make sure they all reached their full potential. At the same time, Faith and Xander were on similar adventures in South America – Xander was still mourning the loss of Anya and decided it was best for him to go with Faith instead, who never was the type of person to pry into other people's thoughts and feelings. They had all understood that was what he needed to do sort things out with himself; all he needed was some time.

The potentials, who were now all slayers, went back to their homes and families. While protecting their own home towns, they were also trying to do their part in helping other slayers find their feet. They still kept in touch with the Scoobies as best they could.

Meanwhile, following the collapse of the Hellmouth, things had changed between Willow and Kennedy, Dawn thought perhaps this was due to the whole ordeal with the First and what they'd lost. The pair had mutually decided to take some time to themselves and go their separate ways for a while, all whilst not dismissing the possibility of finding each again somewhere down the track. Whether or not they'd get back together again, Dawn wasn't sure because she noticed that the redhead didn't seem to be as cut up about it as she could have been. Willow had said to her that Kennedy had helped her heal after losing Tara, but she could never match what she'd had with Tara.

Now, as Dawn followed behind the other two, dragging her suitcase up the stairs of the hotel they were staying in while they were in London, she found herself getting excited for the first time in a while. She'd always wanted to visit England, especially since Giles had moved back. Their hotel was extremely basic, if not a little bit grungy, in the heart of Soho. One of the first things she noticed was that it didn't appear to have been updated for at least a decade. As they made their way up to their rooms, she scrunched her nose up in disgust at the horrible salmon pink walls in the lobby.

"Gross, why would you even paint walls that colour?" she asked nobody in particular, Willow chuckled beside her.

Then much to her horror, they quickly discovered there was no elevator and therefore would have to all drag their luggage up several flights of stairs. This was quite a challenge for two both her and Willow - their luggage was so heavy because it was basically what was left of their lives packed into those suitcases, everything else being lost along with Sunnydale itself.

"Someone kill me now!" Dawn complained, her arms were already screaming in protest by the top of the first flight of stairs.

"It's not that bad, Dawn," Buffy quickly responded as she carried her bags up the stairs with ease.

Dawn grunted and Willow chuckled again. "It's okay for you, Buff. Slayer strength and all, you could give me a hand... better yet, I think you should carry all of the bags."

A few minutes later, thanks to Buffy's assistance, they finally arrived at their rooms. They were able to secure two rooms side by side, one with two single beds and another with one double bed. Dawn was quick to claim the room for one, enjoying the opportunity to get some space from her sister; at most other places they'd visited over the last few months Dawn had been forced to share a room with Buffy, and some of the less enjoyable times it would be all three of them confined to the same room, leaving very little space to find some space of your own.

"Okay, go on," Buffy approved as Dawn cheerfully took one of the keys off Buffy, Buffy keeping another key that also had access into Dawn's room. "I'm _so_ getting the room to myself next time, though; I don't know what's worse Willow's snoring or your sleep talking!"

Dawn stuck her tongue out playfully as she wheeled her luggage out of the corridor and closing the door to her room behind her, meanwhile Willow had entered the room next door and hoisted her bag up onto her bed and began rummaging through it.

"So now that we're finally here I'm gonna get the notebook set up and we'll try to email Giles," She explained as she took out her small toiletries bag. "It'll be good to catch up with him again, see how everything is going. But first I totally need a shower, I feel like I haven't showered in a week."

"Good idea," Buffy replied. "To both ideas, you really are starting to smell!"

Buffy quickly ducked a pillow that was thrown her way.

* * *

><p>Dawn was resting in her room listening to her music; jet-lag had hit her hard in the last half-hour and she was feeling quite lethargic, when Buffy and Willow entered with a new bout of energy, feeling rejuvenated after they'd both been able to shower.<p>

"We've just got word from Giles, he's not in London at the moment but we'll probably be able to meet up with him tomorrow," Willow explained. "But in the meantime, he told us about another slayer that he wants us to meet with."

"Are you okay, Dawnie? You look really exhausted," Buffy asked as she looked at her sister.

Dawn nodded. "Jet-lag's being a bitch... again. You'd think I'd be used to it by now!"

"Well we've really should move fast on this next slayer before she disappears of our radar again, so we probably won't be back until late... maybe you should sit this one out, chill here."

Dawn thought for a moment. "I guess. I wouldn't mind catching up on lost sleep."

"Are you okay to get your own dinner?" Buffy asked.

"I'm seventeen, Buffy. I'm pretty sure I can survive an evening by myself. Promise I won't burn the hotel down," Dawn said shortly, annoyed by her sister's constant, suffocating need to over-protect her.

Buffy sighed. "Okay then, if we don't see you before you go to bed tonight, we're gonna try and meet up with Giles tomorrow sometime."

Dawn smiled excitedly; they'd been emailing Giles over the last few months, but they hadn't seen him since before the whole Hellmouth collapse. Once he'd heard that all the potential slayers were now fully-fledged slayers, he had dedicated his time trying to set up a new-and-improved Watcher's Council, mainly to find and create a support network for the slayers, although it was still very much in its infancy. However, with the help of Willow's magic, they'd been able to report back to Giles with the information on the slayers they'd been able to track down.

"Anyway, we'll see you later," Buffy said.

"Bye, Dawnie," Willow added.

Dawn gave each of them a hug and they soon left, leaving her in complete silence, which she found a very refreshing change and lapped it up. She lay flat back down on her bed just as a slow ballad came on her music player, she then found her eyes were becoming extremely heavy, as she drifted off into some much needed sleep.

* * *

><p>By the time Dawn had woken up it was well and truly into the mid-afternoon. Although the jet lag hadn't completely gone away, she woke up feeling quite refreshed and felt like she needed to catch some daylight. Being July, it was quite a warm, summer's day outside and she wanted to enjoy some of it, particularly to stretch her legs after being cramped up on a plane for so long, so she decided a walk would be a great idea.<p>

After she had changed into fresh clothes, she was happy to say goodbye to the terrible decor of the hotel as she stepped out onto the pavement. As soon as she was outside and walking amongst the old, heritage English buildings, the reality that she was in London hit her, it was one place she'd always wanted to visit. She pondered the history and beauty of all the buildings as she passed by; it blew her away when she thought about how long ago some of them were built, obviously much earlier than anything she was used to back in California.

She then passed through a cafe district, bursting with small, but appetising cafes, and she was almost tempted by the shelves and shelves of cakes on display in the shop windows, especially one of her biggest weaknesses: sticky date pudding. But she pushed on knowing that dinner was only a couple of hours off and she wanted to splurge for dinner back at the hotel, and besides she wasn't really keen to eat out by herself.

As she continued, the cafes slowly turned into a variety of other shops including book and antique shops. After spending a good half hour rummaging through a old, vintage clothing store, she decided to head back to the hotel and melt herself into a nice, hot bubble bath. Although she'd decided to go without a map, she was extremely pleased with herself when she actually managed her way back to the hotel with relative ease, only stopping for directions once. She made her way up the dreaded stairs from earlier, and was about to continue down the corridor, when she lost her footing on the top step and toppled over onto the corridor floor, limbs flailing in all directions. She cried out as pain shot up from her foot and travelled up her leg, meanwhile her brown leather handbag was sent flying and its contents spilled out across the corridor.

"Great!" she thought to herself, as she noticed the lack of people in the corridor to come to her aid.

Sitting awkwardly on the top step, she sighed to herself, but a short moment later as if out of thin air a voice appeared. "Are you alright?" A young male voice asked with concern.

For a moment she was lost in admiring the smooth, English accent and had quickly conjured up a picture in her head of someone like Colin Firth speaking those words. She thought back to whenever she was feeling down or had the flu how she would always watch a Colin Firth movie, _Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary_ or _Pride and Prejudice_ being amongst her favourites. When she returned from the momentary daydream and turned to see who was talking to her, by comparison she was not at all disappointed.

_He could definitely give Mr. Darcy a run for his money!_ A giggling, schoolgirl voice said in her head. The guy looking down at her with concern was roughly about the same age as her, with dark, unruly hair and she didn't even mind the glasses he was wearing – if anything, he was more attractive because of them.

She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and Dawn realised he was still waiting for an answer, as he crouched down to help her up.

"Oh, um," she began stupidly, mentally kicking herself. "I'm fine... I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes, wasn't looking where I was walking."

"I'm usually not the most graceful myself," he paused; a look appeared on his face that Dawn couldn't quite pinpoint. "Do you think you can stand?"

She smiled at him. "I should be alright."

He gave a quick nod and proceeded to help her up. She gave her ankle a tentative test as she stood; there wasn't much pain so she knew that it was only a minor sprain at worst.

"It's not too bad," she explained as she slowly rotated her ankle in different circles to loosen it up, feeling the pain slowly drift away.

The guy then bent back down to collect up her belongings scattered across the corridor.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she crouched down to get her bag.

He shook his head and was insistent. "S'okay, I've got it."

One by one, he picked up her things and put them back in her bag. Purse, diary, phone, lip gloss... her stake. _Shit! Let's just hope he thinks it's some weird, new hair accessory... ugh, who am I kidding?_ She panicked.

He raised his eyebrows as he placed the stake in her bag, Dawn could tell he definitely wasn't thinking along the lines of her stupid hair accessory idea, but he said nothing anyway. An instant later he stood up again and handed her handbag back, she smiled and threw it over her shoulder.

"Thanks a lot for helping me," she said as they stood face-to-face and she got a chance to notice the amazing eyes hidden behind the glasses, which had her entranced for a moment before she was once again brought back to reality. "I'm Dawn, by the way."

He smiled. "Hi Dawn... I'm Harry."

"It's nice to meet you, Harry."


	2. When Harry Met Dawn

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Here's the second chapter already, obviously wanted to post it sooner rather than later because it takes a few chapters to piece things together but don't expect it to be updated as quickly as the story goes on.

With this chapter, I've changed a few details from the DH book to make this storyline work; generally the changes are explained in the story. But for future reference, Snape doesn't become Headmaster of Hogwarts, McGonagall does and therefore the school doesn't go to shit like it does in the book, lol.

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><p><span>Chapter Two – When Harry Met Dawn<span>

"I wish you could come with us Harry, but it's too risky. Every Death Eater is probably out there looking for you right now, whereas it'll be easier to disguise Ron and I," Hermione tried to convince him, as she and Ron took turns transfiguring their appearances to form a disguise before they ventured out into the currently dangerous streets of London.

Only hours previously, they'd had to unexpectedly flee Bill and Fleur's wedding, when Death Eaters had crashed the reception in search of Harry. This meant that they were caught out slightly because although Hermione had been in the process of packing together what they needed with them, they were still slightly unprepared and were in desperate need of food and supplies. Unfortunately, Grimmauld Place was not a viable option to lay low for the meantime, as Death Eaters had managed to follow them there first off, causing them to have to quickly apparate elsewhere. The Leaky Cauldron was also out of the question, so in the end they'd settled for hiding out in a small, slightly run-down hotel in Muggle London.

Harry nodded and sighed as he stared meaningfully into his tea that he was able to make in the hotel room they had managed to seek refuge in. Meanwhile Hermione reached through her little beaded bag and produced a backpack with most of Harry's most important belongings, such as his invisibility cloak, which he was extremely relieved to see.

"Sorry to be deserting you, mate," Ron said apologetically, as he and Hermione had finished the transfigurations and were ready to leave. "We'll be back as soon as we can... you can always use that tillyvision thing or something while we're gone - shame dad's not here, he'd have a field day!"

"Whatever you do, Harry, make sure you stay in the room. The less people who see us, the better," Hermione said finally as they made their way to the door.

"Sure, sure," Harry replied robotically, as he opened one of his old school books and feigned interest on a random page. "How long will you be gone?"

Hermione shrugged. "Well even though we've tried to disguise ourselves, we've got to take all the precautions," she glanced down a long piece of parchment in her right hand. "Besides, I was thinking we made need our own form of accommodation like a tent or something. If only I'd had a chance to pack Mr. Weasley's tent!"

"I'm not sleeping in a ruddy, muggle tent!" Ron piped up.

"Before you carry on, Ronald, if you must know, I was going to transfigure the tent and make it like your dad's. Would that be sufficient enough for you?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort but not before Harry jumped it, sensing another infamous Hermione-Ron spat. "Well, you both better get going if we want to be off before Christmas," he said sarcastically.

Hermione nodded and dragged Ron towards the door. "Be safe and remember to stay here in the hotel and we'll try to be back as soon as possible. Unless we're not back by dinnertime, then something may have happened...but let's not think of that."

"Be careful," replied a concerned Harry as they left the room.

It only took less than an hour for restlessness to kick in, he almost felt like a caged animal, especially since the room was your typical tiny, English hotel room with only enough room for a couple of beds, a small table and a very small bathroom. Soon he found his stomach rumbling loudly, having not eaten much at Bill and Fleur's wedding or anything since meant that he was absolutely starving. Glancing around the room, his eyes clamped onto his invisibility cloak haphazardly spread out across his bed, and without hesitation he scooped it up and threw it over himself. Hermione had warned him not to leave the hotel; well he was still technically going to follow her advice because he wasn't going to. Besides, nobody would see him and he would just go downstairs, get some food and stretch his legs.

He was only a couple of steps outside the door when he heard a cry of pain and looked up to see a female form sprawled out at the top of the staircase, her belongings scattered from one wall to the other.

He debated on what to do next - it was obviously the right thing to do to run to her aid; however it could also be potentially dangerous for him to reveal himself. But then he also felt like there was an invisible rope was drawing him forward, and then suddenly it was as if his limbs acted of their own accord and he found himself approaching the girl whilst whipping the cloak off and stuffing it into his jacket pocket.

"Are you alright?"

For all Harry knew, he could have been standing there for minutes just staring, but as soon as her eyes connected with his, he couldn't help but be absorbed in her striking blue eyes, reminding him of the ceiling in the Great Hall on a bright, autumn day. He somehow broke the spell and crouched down to gather her things, which were scattered across the ground.

"Oh, um, I'm fine... "_ That accent, sounds like she's from the United States... must be a tourist, _Harry thought as she spoke, "I'm fine... I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes, wasn't looking where I was walking."

He thought of his own physical awkwardness, especially around the girls back at Hogwarts. "I'm usually not the most graceful myself," he looked down to her ankle, noticing she'd landed uncomfortably on her leg. "Do you think you can stand?"

He offered a helping hand, as soon as skin meet skin he was completely overwhelmed with a strange head rush, unlike anything he'd felt before.

"It's not too bad," her voice brought him back again and he was relieved to see she was unhurt.

He shuffled on his feet gawkily and his left foot came into contact with a book, then noticing her things were still all over the floor, so he politely bent down to pick them up.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," she protested, but at this point he was so mesmerised he would have crashed his broom into a tree for her if she'd asked.

"It's okay, I've got it."

As he collected up her things he came across a strange item - a long, jagged piece of wood. _Definitely not a wand, but why exactly is she carrying around a sharp piece of wood? Strange... _He handed back her handbag and looked into her eyes once more, his head still screaming to introduce himself, however she beat him to it. "I'm Dawn, by the way."

He couldn't help but smile now that he had a name. "Hi, Dawn. I'm Harry."

"It's nice to meet you, Harry."

There was a short silence before Harry plucked up the courage to speak up. "So, you're from America? Just travelling?"

Dawn briefly smiled, like there was something more behind it. "You could say that... just got here from Russia actually. Travelling with my sister and her friend, they're here for work obligations, so they left me all on my lonesome and I was just out seeing some of the city."

"Did you get down to Trafalgar Square? That's my favourite area."

"Not really, got very distracted by the amazing shops around here... you know, a girl's gotta shop," she explained, flashing a friendly smile that made Harry's heart flutter ever so slightly.

"Oh really, well you definitely should go walk around there when you get a chance, there's so much to see."

"So, do you live around here?" Dawn quizzed.

He nodded. "I grew up just south of London, spend my summers there when," He paused with a painful grimace at the thought of the Dursley's. "But I've been going to... a boarding school in Scotland for a few years now."

"Ugh, boarding school is that as bad as what the movies make it look?" she asked.

"Actually, I loved it there, made loads of great friends..." _I just hope that we can find these horcruxes and defeat Voldemort so I can go back_, he thought sadly.

"_Loved_? So have you graduated or something?"

He shook his head. "This year was supposed to be my final year, but it's, uh... complicated. What about you? How come you're travelling with your sister?"

"It's... uh, complicated too," she replied with a laugh to which Harry joined. "The school I went to back in California doesn't really exist anymore and with my sister being my legal guardian, at least for the next year, I'm stuck with her. Sometimes it's okay, but it can totally be a drag sometimes too."

Harry was trying to figure out the least harsh way of asking his next question before she cut him off. "It's okay, I know what you wanna ask – my mom died just under two years ago and my dad has his own life now, so it's just my sister, Buffy, and me."

He looked directly at her and could see that there was still a lot of sadness behind her eyes when she talked about it, so he didn't exactly want to pry any further. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

"At least you still have your sister, you can be thankful of that."

She nodded and glanced down at the carpet for a moment. "Well, I'm sure you were going somewhere before you came to my rescue..."

"Well actually, I am famished and was just headed to see what they had downstairs, maybe have a tea... if you wanted to join me," Harry asked feeling bolder than his usually self when it came to the opposite sex, in the space of the few minutes he'd been talking to Dawn he'd almost completely forgotten the current situation and the danger he was in.

Dawn chuckled to herself and he heard her mutter something under her breath about English and their tea. "That'd be great," she replied and followed him downstairs with another large smile.

As they made their way downstairs, Harry briefly considered the thought that this was a terrible idea, and that Death Eaters could come marching into the hotel at any time, but for some reason, there was this feeling that had started when he'd first spotted Dawn that made him want to throw caution into the wind. Whether he'd live to regret this later, that feeling made him not care right at that moment.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Willow stared wide-eyed at the computer in front of her. "It's just amazing how many slayers there are out there since we did the spell on all the potentials."<p>

"Makes my job that much easier now... have I told you how much I love you for doing that, Will?" Buffy replied from across the room where she sat with Giles; not long after they'd left the hotel, Giles had contacted them and told them he'd been able to make his way back to London earlier than expected, they now sat in an apartment he'd been renting just up north of Central London.

Willow laughed. "Many times, a Ferrari or something would say 'I love you' so much better."

Buffy poked her tongue out playfully and then turned to Giles. "So how've things been going here, Giles?"

Giles put down a cup of tea he was drinking. "Well actually, I was just down in Southampton visiting a friend that has been helping with the reform of the Watcher's Council. And since the spell, I've been able to discover at least half a dozen Slayers around London and the surrounding areas alone. Also one of my sources tells me that there are more suspected Slayers up north, particularly in Scotland."

Willow swung around in her chair. "Buffy and I were thinking that would be our next stop after here, you should come with, Giles. I know that would make Dawn really happy too, wouldn't it, Buff?" Buffy nodded.

"Ah yes," Giles began, taking off his glasses. "How is Dawn? Did she enjoy Russia?"

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, she did enjoy Russia – especially all those boys with their thick, Russian accents, whoa if I was five or six years younger," She gave herself a quick fan with the book she was absentmindedly flicking through. "But anyway... getting back on track - Dawn seems to being enjoying herself most of the time, but sometimes you can see she really misses home. She probably misses Xander and Faith too, they were in South America last I spoke. But I think she especially misses Spike and Anya. We haven't really talked about it properly, but you can see sometimes she'd rather be somewhere else."

"She probably needs to be with kids her age." Willow interjected.

"Has she befriended any of the Slayers you've met?"

Buffy shook her head. "I think she knows there's no point, and there isn't because it's not long before we're off somewhere new... maybe I shouldn't have brought her with me, maybe she's better off staying in the one place."

Giles shrugged slightly. "Buffy, at least with you she can't get herself into as much trouble."

Buffy laughed. "Trouble usually finds Dawn anyway."

* * *

><p>Time quickly ticked by, as they spent a long while down at the puny hotel restaurant, which much to Dawn's disgust, had a continuation of the horrible salmon pink paint colour from the reception area. Harry had insisted on sitting over in the far corner by the window, furthest away from the door through to the reception area and that was generally away from prying eyes. Dawn could tell he had a reason for this, but couldn't quite pinpoint it at the time and she certainly didn't feel comfortable asking why, especially considering the short time she'd known him.<p>

Unfortunately, the kitchen was closed in preparation for dinnertime, which was fast approaching; however one of the ladies from the hotel was still able to offer them both hot beverages and a small muffin to which Harry eagerly consumed. As they sat there, Harry had told her that he had lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin and described how horrible they were to him, but then followed up by talking affectionately about his two closest friends, Ron and Hermione. Dawn had talked about Buffy and Joyce, briefly mentioning the rest of the Scooby Gang and trying not to go into detail about it all because if she did, she knew there was way too much she couldn't give a normal explanation for.

"Harry," she began in between mouthfuls of her coffee. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how come you lived with your aunt and uncle? I mean, I know that it could only be for a few reasons; most of them not being very nice and it's probably really rude to ask and I don't want to upset you or anything but... ugh sorry - the queen of babbling right here!"

Harry chuckled. "It's okay, really. You've talked about your mum and that wouldn't be easy, especially with someone you don't know, so it's only fair I talk about my parents too. It was a long time ago, anyway."

Dawn leaned in, resting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. "Oh no, what happened?"

Harry thought through his words, knowing he'd have to be careful with what he said around a muggle. "When I was one, so of course I don't remember, both my parents were murdered. So then I was sent to live with my Aunt Petunia, my mum's sister, and my Uncle Vernon."

There was a sharp intake of breath, and then Dawn reached out her hand across the table to sympathetically touch his forearm. "That's terrible, Harry! I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "Of course, I wonder what they were like sometimes, but I suppose at least I was too young to know them. Growing up with a parent and then getting them taken away, that would be a lot harder, I'm sure."

"But to lose both parents would be absolute hell... what about the bastard who did it?"

_I hate having to watch what I say with Dawn, I wish I could just be honest, _he thought with frustration, as he continued to think carefully before he spoke. "He's still out there, that's part of the reason I'm not going back to my school this year, I have to make sure he is, uh, brought to justice."

"I hope it's nothing illegal," Dawn joked to which Harry smiled uncomfortably and shook his head.

_What a total surprise this afternoon has turned out to be! _Dawn thought to herself when there was a comfortable break in the conversation and she glanced out the window to see the sunset that was casting a beautiful orange glow on everything it touched.

"You know what? I think I'm really going to like England," Dawn revealed and Harry looked up from his tea, their eyes making contact causing her face to heat up. "...you know, from what you've told me."

Harry looked pensive for a moment and was about to open up to say something, when Dawn's stomach gave a loud, interruptive rumble to remind her dinner was fast approaching.

"I think you're stomach is trying to tell us something."

Dawn glanced at her watch and looked back up dejectedly. "I should probably head back up, not sure when Buffy will be back – she'd probably freak and get half the city looking for me if she got back before me and I wasn't there, she's like that."

"It's good to have someone like that to watch out for you," Harry pointed out with a tinge of sadness to his voice.

"Well..." she trailed off with a poignant smile, knowing their time together was coming to an end.

"I can walk you back upstairs," Harry offered eagerly, not ready to say goodbye yet, even if it was delaying the inevitable for only a few more moments. "Make sure you get back their safe and sound."

"Yes, I can see how dangerous hotel corridors can be," Dawn joked as they got up and headed in the direction of the stairs.

"You did seem to make it look quite dangerous earlier."

"Touché," she replied as they ascended the stairs together.

Only moments later they had climbed up a few levels and found themselves in front of Dawn's room, as Dawn riffled through her bag and produced her room key, unlocking the door but not opening it just yet. They turned and looked at each other silently; Dawn's heart began racing so fast she thought it was just about to explode inside her chest.

"So," Dawn began falling into silence again. _Come on, Dawn. You're a big girl; you can be the one to talk first._

After another long moment of silence, which Dawn noted wasn't actually all that awkward - just full of hesitation, Dawn finally found her words. "Thanks so much, Harry, I've had the most amazing ti-"

She was quickly cut off, as Harry finally plucked up the courage and pulled her towards him, his lips landing on hers. Sure Dawn had felt an instant attraction to him when he'd been her knight in shining armour only an hour or two ago, but as soon as their lips had connected, she felt something else take her over. It was a feeling she couldn't explain because she'd certainly never felt it before, but she just went with it, not that she felt like she had a choice in the matter. She responded eagerly to the kiss, as if she almost didn't have control of her own body.

As the kiss deepened, Dawn found herself with her back pressing against the door. They eventually broke for air, but that was short lived as Dawn initiated the next contact as her arms wrapped up above his shoulders, snaking around his neck. _Wow, I can't believe this is happening. _A voice screamed inside her head.

Harry was just as much in disbelief, wondering what had come over him but how easy and right the connection between him and Dawn felt, he'd never been this relaxed or confident when it came to women. He was quite enjoying the sensation of Dawn's hand playing with the hair at the base of his neck, when her hand suddenly disappeared; he felt a wave of disappointment. It took him a moment to realise that she'd twisted her arm down behind her and was fumbling with the door handle. Once she'd finally opened the door, they took several steps into the room, their lips never breaking contact.


	3. When Things Get Confusing

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Hello again! A great big thanks to those who have been reading/reviewing the story so far. Chapter Four will be coming quite soon after this and then after that the updates will probably slow down a little bit, I just wanted to get these first few ones out so that people could get a better idea of where the story is going. Obviously there's no way I could keep up with posting a chapter every day or so.

Please do bear with me, things will start coming together and I really hope you enjoy it. Thanks!

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><p><span>Chapter Three – When Things Get Confusing<span>

Dawn was drifting in and out of sleep, lying in her bed in a shirt that wasn't hers with her head resting on something firm but warm. Her eyes fluttered open again, as the full reality of the situation hit her and she pushed up off the bed in a panic. _What's wrong with me? I can't believe that just happened - I'm not that kind of girl! _She was quick to chastise herself, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised that this was something beyond her control.

There was no doubt that she instantly found Harry attractive, but almost felt there was another force at work that made things progress much faster, and well, further than she'd ever been with a guy before.

Little did she know as Harry was also coming back to consciousness, due to her sudden departure from the bed, and very similar thoughts and questions were racing through his mind at the same time. Guilt washed over him like a tidal wave, as he realised the reality of what he'd done, to begin with, it had only been a few short months since he'd broken it off with Ginny following Dumbledore's death. He knew that if he'd been thinking clearly he would have never done what he'd just done because he knew he there were still many unresolved things with Ginny. Furthermore, following the afternoon they'd spent together he knew he really liked Dawn, but then somehow things quickly got out of hand, as if there was something beyond his control that caused things to escalate into something he wouldn't normally have done. He was almost afraid that he'd taken advantage of Dawn.

Both teenagers were frozen still, for what could have been minutes, in silence and uncertainty of how to proceed from there.

"I, uh..." Dawn began trying to find words but failed, as Harry reached for his glasses and they made eye contact uneasily.

Feeling her cheeks begin to burn, and seeing Harry's react similar, she broke the stare and glanced around the room. Her eyes fell on the clock beside her bed, only to be abruptly struck with panic when she saw that the clock read 9:13pm. _Holy shit! What if Buffy's back already?_

The paper-thin walls meant that they could easily hear next door, and as if on cue, they could make out the sounds of faint talking and what sounded like movement in Buffy and Willow's room. Dawn stiffened with wide, fearful eyes.

"It's my sister!" Dawn whispered with horror, making eye contact with Harry once more. _I'm so fucking dead!_ A voice yelled clearly in her head.

Harry's eyes widened in alarm, as they gave each other a meaningful look. "I.. uh," he also failed to find words, before they both snapped out of their momentary shock and Dawn threw him a look as if to say 'Get a move on!', which sprung them both into action.

Dawn ran over to her suitcase and pulled out her pyjamas, despite the rush she modestly turned away as she hurriedly pulled his shirt over her head, flinging it over her shoulder and across the room for Harry to pick up. She then pulled her pyjamas on in lightning speed, extremely thankful that at least if Buffy or Willow barged in now she would be half-decently dressed, she wasn't sure if the same could be said for Harry and was too embarrassed and horrified to check.

Then clear movement could be heard next door, making her realise that someone was on the move. "Quick!" she squealed.

She turned back around to find Harry fully dressed. "How'd you do that so fast?" It was a valid question, considering she was still having such a hard to locating all of her clothes around the room.

He shrugged with an awkward, but boyish smile, causing a flutter in Dawn's stomach. Suddenly she could distinctly hear Buffy and Willow's voices outside the door, so she looked around the room in a panic for a hiding spot for Harry, knowing that he definitely couldn't get out of the room now. She was about to turn around and whisper "Hide!" to Harry, but before she could she heard a cracking noise and when she turned around it was as if he'd disappeared into thin air.

She didn't have time to ponder as the door began to open, so instead she jumped on her bed and fumbled hurriedly to get under the covers and then feigned sleep. She peeped an eye open to see Buffy and Willow entering the room just enough so that they were standing only a step in from the doorway, they were looking her way from across the room, so she snapped her eye shut again.

"Did you just hear something?" she heard Buffy ask Willow.

"Hmm, not sure, this old hotel makes some creepy noises... Is she asleep already?" she heard Willow's voice whisper from across the room, and then she heard footsteps and felt someone sit at the end of her bed.

"Think so," Buffy whispered from next to her. "She probably got bored waiting around for us – we were gone for ages, hope she wasn't too disappointed that we caught up with Giles early."

She felt Buffy slightly adjust the covers up onto her and then could make out the footsteps as she walked back towards the door. Before they left she had another moment of alarm as she heard Willow speak up again.

"Geez, Dawn must take after you, Buffy, with the being messy and everything. Look at all her clothes scattered across the room already, there's even a bra hanging on the lamp over there."

* * *

><p>Harry paused outside the door to his room, which was actually just down and around the corridor from Dawn's room. His head felt like it was about to explode as he replayed the events of the day. He thought about how he felt instantly draw to Dawn when he first met her earlier that day, but kept coming back to what had happened in the corridor, that was where things got confusing. Of course the thought of kissing her had crossed his mind, but then it felt like there was something that had just pushed him to go and do it, and when their lips had connected for the first time there was an electricity between them, which had obviously gone to his brain because he found that he couldn't find the strength to stop what he'd started.<p>

_Should I try and see her again? Maybe talk to her?_ He pondered, although deep down he knew this wasn't completely possible; he, Ron and Hermione were all due to leave in the morning, when would he get the chance? Owling her was completely out of the question too, because one - he'd have to get his hands on an owl, and two - if he did manage this, he could just see the look on her face if an owl turned up at her hotel room with a letter from him.

His thoughts continued to race as he fumbled for the room key and tried to make his entrance into the room as inconspicuous as possible, however there was no such luck when he was greeted by a worried-looking Ron and a distressed, furious Hermione.

"HARRY!" Hermione yelled, exasperated. "Where _the hell _have you been? You were supposed to stay here, there are so many Death Eaters out there and not to mention there's a target on your head!"

Ron rested a calming hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Yeah, mate, when we got back an hour or so ago and you weren't here, we were really worried something had happened to you."

Harry took a moment to form a response to aid his defence, there was definitely no way he was going to tell them the truth, at least not anytime soon. "I was starving and went to get food – before you say anything, don't worry I used my invisibility cloak... sorry, I didn't realise I took so long," he finished glancing over at the clock on the bedside table across the room.

"It took you over an hour to get food?" Hermione threw her hands up in frustration. "And surely putting up with an empty stomach is better than getting yourself killed!"

Harry shrugged. "I would've just gone downstairs but they weren't serving so I very carefully ventured elsewhere, I made sure no one saw me..." He hated lying to his two best friends, and it was obviously difficult to fool Hermione, so he tried his best to sound convincing.

Hermione studied him suspiciously for a moment, the remnants of extreme stress still etched on her face and in her body language; whilst Ron, who had looked concerned moments earlier, just shrugged and gave him a look as if to say 'no harm done, be more careful next time though', he was always good that way.

"You weren't wearing the cloak when you came in," Hermione suddenly pointed out, not missing a trick.

Harry produced it from where it was tucked into a pocket that was on the inside of his jacket. "That's because I didn't think it was necessary in the corridor just outside."

Hermione shook her head in annoyance. "Well I think it's better to be on the over-cautious side, Harry. You can't pull off a stunt like that again - none of us can! We need to always know where each other are, who knows what will happen otherwise!"

"You're right, Hermione. It was extremely foolish of me and I'm sorry, I promise I won't do it again," And with that promise he knew the chances of ever seeing Dawn again were extremely slim.

As they all took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom, Hermione was suddenly quite silent, and she was generally avoiding any further interaction with Harry and he could just tell that she was still fuming and cursing him inside her head. He knew he really deserved it, so he decided to let her calm down and then he could find a way to make it up to her later. The more he thought about, the more he realised what he'd put his two friends through, had the roles been reversed he would have reacted the same.

The startling thought that he'd hurt so many people in the space of a day soon made him drop his head in shame and become equally as quiet as Hermione as they all settled into their beds, and he lay there with his guilt for a long time before he managed to drift off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Dawn woke up early the next morning, eager to shower and tidy up before Buffy or Willow came in. She knew that Buffy and Willow were experienced enough to maybe recognise the signs of what she'd done the previous night, if she didn't get herself into a decent shape before they saw her.<p>

As the water washed over her, in some disturbing, pathetic way she almost felt a pang of sadness that she was washing away the smell of Harry's cologne and the connection they'd had, however daunting it was. Once she'd gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed, she paused to pick up the pillow that he'd used and brought it to her face. Now that she thought she might never see him again, especially because she didn't even know his last name, she took comfort in the smell and trying to lock it into her memory. Never in her wildest dreams would she ever have thought that her first time would be in a hotel in London, and a one-night stand to top it all off. What was becoming of her?

"Dawn, what are you doing?" Buffy's voice broke her reverie; she hadn't even heard her sister come in and now she'd found her standing there staring off into space, her nose buried deep into a pillow.

_Nice one, Dawn,_ she scolded herself, immediately dropping the pillow.

"Nothing."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Dawn. Finished getting dressed, today we're catching up with Giles. I hope you don't mind, but after we left you yesterday we caught up with him earlier. I was a bit worried you might get pissed that you missed out."

Of course Dawn wanted to see Giles, but the surrealism of the previous night kept her distracted from what usually would have annoyed her. "That's okay, Buffy. I'll get to see him today anyway."

Buffy shrugged and shook her head in confusion, expecting a stronger reaction from her younger sister. She returned back to the other room to find Willow was sitting cross-legged on her bed, channel surfing on the hotel room's TV.

"What's so funny, Buff?"

Buffy exhaled. "I dunno. Dawn seems weird this morning. Can't quite put my finger on it."

"Weird, how?"

"She's a bit spacey, found her in there all spaced out and smelling a pillow," she sighed. "Hope she didn't mind us bailing on her last night."

Willow laughed and shook her head. "Oh Buffy, after what we've all been through, none of us are exactly 'normal'... you're probably reading too much into things."

"Reading too much into what?" Dawn appeared in the door now fully-dressed in a denim skirt and tank top, her eyes shining with curiousity.

Willow smiled and silently turned back to the TV with a guilty look, while Buffy went over and wrapped her arms tight around her sister. "Doesn't matter. Sorry about yesterday, we got caught up with Giles for a lot longer than we thought. Did you manage to entertain yourself while we were gone?"

Dawn coughed, choking on nothing in particular. "Sorry, choked on my own saliva," she quickly answered. "Uh, yeah, didn't get up to much, went for a walk, did some shopping, got a great list of places to see by an everyday Londoner."

Willow swung her attention back away from the TV. "Ooh Dawnie, was he cute?"

"What?" Dawn was caught slightly off guard, unexpectedly hit by the feeling that everything she was hiding was written on her forehead for everyone to see, and was worried that they knew everything.

Both the older women's faces burst with amusement. "You can tell by the nervous, goofy look on your face, Dawn," Buffy informed her.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yes, okay, he was. Happy?"

"A bit defensive, are we Dawnie?" Buffy teased. "Did anything happen with him?"

Dawn, still concerned that she felt like an open book, tried to keep her face from giving too much away, annoyed at already how much they'd been able to see. Anyway, she really wasn't in the mood to be grilled about the previous day, still trying to sort out her own head.

"Nope... he helped me up when I had a clumsy moment outside the room, we grabbed some coffee and tea and then I said 'thanks' and we went our separate ways. Then I came back here and watched a movie and went to sleep. Exciting stuff."

Buffy put up her hands defensively. "Okay okay, just asking... if you're still all grouchy from the jet-lag, then maybe you should sit today out as well."

Dawn quickly shook her. "No way, you're not leaving me behind. I want to see Giles, just because you guys already caught up with him..."

Feeling slightly peeved at her sister, Dawn stormed out to get her handbag and a cardigan. Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow shared a confused look before silently collecting their own jackets and handbags.

* * *

><p>Hermione impatiently shook both Harry and Ron awake the following morning, so that they could go through their checklist, make sure they now had everything they needed to last them for at least a couple of months, and then check-out of the hotel and set off in their search for the horcruxes.<p>

As they got ready, they talked about where they would head first, deciding that it was best to stay away from the main cities and set camp somewhere in the countryside west of London, whilst they figured out where Voldemort may have hidden a horcrux, and then they would make a move from there. Hermione, who had already been up for over an hour before she woke up the boys, had been surveying the map and suggested they camp just outside one of the small villages in that area, in case they needed more supplies once they got there.

"Okay, are we ready to head off then?" Hermione asked as she put the last of the supplies into her little, beaded bag.

Hermione had also suggested that she be the one to go down to the hotel reception to check-out because she was less likely to be recognised by Death Eaters than Ron, while Harry and Ron would follow behind her with the invisibility cloak. From there they would go around into the secluded alleyway beside the hotel and apparate to their next location.

Harry, still very much thinking of last night, was struck by an impulsive idea. "Yeah, I just need to use the loo before we leave."

Hermione told him to be quick, and then when she and Ron weren't looking he quickly snatched up the hotel's complimentary pen off the table next to him. Once he was inside the bathroom he reached into his pocket and produced a small, torn piece of parchment that had been floating around in there for weeks and hurriedly scribbled down the first words that popped into his head. Folding the parchment and shoving both that and the pen into his pocket, he then flushed the toilet to authenticate his excuse to use the bathroom, and then finally untied one of his shoelaces before rejoining the other two in the main room.

Knowing what they had to do, Harry and Ron exchanged very few words as they threw the cloak over themselves, whilst Hermione gathered up the room keys and had the payment for the hotel ready in her hand. They followed her out into the corridor and down around towards the stairs, staying a few paces behind. They soon approached the room that Harry distinctly recognised, memories and images instantly flooding back to him, which he quickly shook off. He waited until the right moment when he and Ron were directly next to the door before he came to an abrupt stop.

"What's up, mate?" Ron whispered, wondering as to why they had come to an unexpected halt.

"My shoe lace is untied, just give me a minute," Harry whispered back, as he crouched down, carefully making sure his back was obscuring Ron's view of him to the door, which was literally right in front of him. He just kept hoping that Ron wasn't paying too much attention.

As he finished tying up the shoe, he quickly reached in his pocket and pulled out the folded parchment, swiftly sliding it under the gap of the door, thankful that he didn't have to reach very far to do so as to not draw too much attention to himself. As he stood up, he was relieved to see that Ron's expression hadn't changed, apparently appearing to have not noticed what Harry had just done. So they continued on, moving hastily to catch up to Hermione. Harry turned his head and giving the door one last miserable glance before it got out of sight.


	4. When a Prophecy Complicates Matters

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Hey everyone. This is the chapter when things starting shaping up and we see the first appearance of a different HP character – yay! Now that I've got this chapter out, I'm going to start slowing things down a little bit but will hopefully still be getting a new chapter out at least once a week, so hang in there.

Once again, thanks for those who are taking the time to read/review. I've noticed that there are a few people who are obviously keeping track of this story but haven't reviewed at all. I would appreciate it if you could review, just to let me know your thoughts/feedback, even if it is only a small sentence – reviews really make sharing my story worth it and hopefully better as a result.

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><p><span>Chapter Four – When a Prophecy Complicates Matters<span>

The next six weeks, give or take a few days, for Dawn were spent tagging along with Buffy, Willow and Giles on their slayer escapades, feeling very much like an afterthought most of the time. Although, one of the positives was that she got to spend some quality time with Giles, mostly at mealtimes, having not seen much of him since he'd left Sunnydale. She had missed him terribly, thinking that he was always more of a father to her than her real father was, and since Joyce had died she was severely lacking in the parental figures department.

So, after getting to know London for the majority of those weeks, she was once again uprooted and forced to tag along on a road trip around England for the next few weeks and from there the other three had planned for them, once again not including Dawn in the planning, to head up to Glasgow, Scotland. The United Kingdom was beautiful, but she felt so disconnected from it all, like something wasn't right. Ever since that mysterious evening, when she'd unexpected lost her virginity to almost a complete stranger, she felt different.

_How could one night change so much?_ She felt frustrated, as she reached into her pocket and rested her hand on the light brown-coloured piece of paper she must have stared at about a hundred times already. _I've just gotta forget that it ever happened._

"_Going back to the corner where I first saw you, gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move... Got some words on cardboard, got your picture in my hand, saying 'if you see this girl, can you tell her where I am'..." _Music began to pour out through the car stereo as Dawn stared out the side window.

"Ugh," Dawn groaned, partly at the song and partly at her painfully throbbing head, so she pushed her face against the cool glass in hope to soothe the pain.

"You okay, Dawnie?" Willow asked from beside her in the back seat.

"Just peachy," was all she replied, continuing to gaze out the window, feeling more and more dreadful by the moment.

They passed across the English/Scottish border and she heard Giles say something about it only being a couple more hours of driving to reach Glasgow. As they went on, luckily for Dawn, the song had changed to an upbeat, rock song, which was slightly less torturous for her – she just really couldn't even deal with any of that heavy, gushy stuff right now, where the song lyrics would just cut right through her.

Moments later Dawn quickly sat upright. "Uh, stop the car! Please?" she called out urgently to Giles who was currently driving, obviously more accustomed to driving on the left side of the road.

Giles promptly pulled the car over onto the gravel on the side of the road, within seconds Dawn had flung her door open and jumped out of the car and onto the grass where she regurgitated her breakfast back up; she'd had a full English breakfast that morning so it wasn't a pretty sight, the others wincing at the sight of it.

"Dawn!" Buffy called out with concern, walking over to hold back her long brown hair. "Are you okay?"

Dawn nodded, whilst Willow climbed back into the car. "I'll get some water and Kleenex," she called out.

Dawn wiped her mouth on her sleeve; this wasn't a time for proper etiquette, especially when she felt so horrible, and it wasn't as if she was generally impeccable in that department anyway. "I'm okay, I went a bit overboard on breakfast this morning, I think, that and carsickness mixed together."

"Are you sure?" Willow appeared next to her again, passing her a bottle of water.

Dawn nodded, thankful to be able to rinse her mouth. "We're not far from Glasgow now, I'll be fine 'til then," Buffy's hand lingered on her shoulder in apprehension. "Seriously, I'm fine... feeling better already, and I promise not to get all 'The Exorcist' on you in the car."

"How do you even know about that movie scene? Somebody didn't let you watch that movie, did they?" Buffy spoke up, to which Dawn just smiled. "But anyway, you take the front seat. I've heard that's better for carsickness."

As Buffy and Giles headed back over to the car, Willow smiled knowingly as she leaned over to Dawn and asked gently, "Was it Xander?"

Dawn nodded with a small laugh, as the four of them hopped back in the car and continued on. They didn't get very far down the road when Dawn began to feel her eyes drooping and then she eventually drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Giles, still struggling to keep her eyes open and not feeling like she was completely with it.

"Don't worry, I've got it – slayer strength, remember?" she heard Buffy say and vaguely registered that she was being lifted out of the car and carried somewhere.

Dawn woke again later in an unfamiliar room; she assumed it was the house Giles had arranged for them to stay in, saying earlier that it was through someone he knew. Buffy, Willow and Dawn were all just glad it wasn't another hotel and they had seen _a lot_ of hotels over the past few months from travelling place to place.

She felt dramatically better than earlier, having had a few hours of quality sleep had done wonders. She looked around and got up to look outside the window – she was looking down on other houses in what she assumed to be a pretty, normal Scottish neighbourhood.

She then headed out into the hallway and found her way down a nearby staircase in search of life. Looking around, she could definitely see some similarities between the layouts of this house and her old house in Sunnydale, which gave her a small pang of sadness. As she walked downstairs she could hear voices, so she followed the sound of them until she found herself in a quaint, cosy kitchen. The others were sitting around at the small breakfast table in the corner looking out on the back garden. It seemed to be very late in the afternoon, as the sun was starting to set out beyond the garden.

"Welcome back, sleepy head," Buffy greeted clutching a cup of coffee in her hand. "Feeling better? Want a coffee or tea?"

Dawn nodded. "Yep, glad to be out of that car. I could definitely go a green tea right now to settle me down, thanks," she said, joining them at the table and they sat around for hours talking and reminiscing of Sunnydale days with Giles.

* * *

><p>Dawn tossed and turned most of the night, her head was spinning and she struggled to maintain her footing as she got up that morning. As soon as she stood up, an unpleasant sensation washed over her and she rushed to through to the bathroom and straight over to the toilet to throw up. She felt absolutely horrible. When she finally finished emptying the contents of her stomach, she laid down on the floor beside the toilet, not daring herself to stand up just yet.<p>

All she wanted to do was climb back into bed and sleep all day, but for the moment she was comforted by the coolness of the bathroom tiles against her heated face. The next thing she knew, she had obviously fallen asleep right there on the floor and was woken up by Buffy's calls for breakfast.

_What's wrong with me? It can't be carsickness,_ she thought to herself as she slowly pushed herself up. She shook her head and decided that she felt much better and didn't want to think any further about why she'd been ill, so she got her dressing gown and slippers and headed down to the kitchen.

"Morning, Dawn," Giles greeted warmly. "How did you sleep?"

Dawn yawned. "Not that great, actually... uh, you know how it is when you're sleeping in a strange place. What's on today's agenda?"

"There is currently nothing much planned, you all might want to take a tour of the city or something. I'm waiting back to hear from some news from an old friend I knew through the Watcher's Council." Giles explained, looking between the three women.

As she joined Buffy and Willow at the table, there was a scratching on the small window over the kitchen sink, startling all three women, however Dawn was quick to notice that Giles seemed undisturbed by it. He simply got up, opened the window only to have a real live owl fly into the room.

"Before I meet with my friend, I probably should give you a bit of background," Giles said as the bird offered its leg, where a piece of paper was tied, in which Giles gently took off and unrolled it. "Ahh, yes, this is from him now. Oh, and he'll be here within the hour."

The women just stared at the owl, dumbstruck, not fully comprehending what Giles was telling them.

"Uh, Giles," Buffy said slowly. "Why is there an owl in the house?"

Giles broke off a piece of his toast and fed it to the bird, which hooted happily and flew back out the window. "Well, it's quite a long story. Willow, I may have mentioned some of it you briefly."

Willow looked thoughtful, as if trying to scan back through all of her past conversations with the older man.

"Did that owl just deliver mail?" Dawn uttered in disbelief.

Giles nodded, took his glasses off and settled himself down at the table because he knew he had a lot of explaining to do. "That's how they deliver mail to each other in the Wizarding World, a society of witches and wizards."

Willow's eyes squinted in concentration as she tried to remember something. "That's right! When I was staying here for my magical rehab, you mentioned something about a magic school – Headwarts, or something?"

Giles chuckled. "Yes, _Hogwarts_ is one of several schools in the Wizarding World. It's actually right here in Scotland, that friend I've being speaking to is obviously a wizard and has told me that there may be a possibility of a slayer at Hogwarts. I dismissed the idea of it before because I thought that there couldn't be a magical slayer."

"Wait, so do these people do magic like Willow?" Buffy questioned.

"Not exactly," Giles explained with the shake of his head. "Willow's magic is a form of wandless magic, whereas in the Wizard World they use wands to channel their magic; it can quite often be a more precise way of casting spells. Anyway, I became aware of the Wizarding World when I was on the Watcher's Council. The Ministry of Magic, their government, would quite often be in communication with the Council when it came to vampire or demon activity."

"Wow, that all sounds pretty cool," Dawn added, tentatively eating a spoonful of cereal, hoping that the food wouldn't make for a repeat of earlier that morning.

The girls continued to fire questions Giles' way; they found out that both dragons and elves really existed, along with many other magical creatures that they hadn't even imagined existed, even after living in Sunnydale. Dawn was amazed and fascinated by everything, she almost thought she was imagining things, but she somehow felt a real connection to what Giles was revealing to them. She'd never heard any of what he was telling them before, so how was that even possible? The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted these thoughts, and she watched as Giles sprang up to greet his friend. She could hear them talking in the front hallway, obviously talking about personal business because she could hear Giles offer his heartfelt congratulations to the other man, for what she didn't know.

Moments later, Giles re-entered the kitchen, with a slender man in his late thirties/early forties, with light-brown hair that was starting to turn grey. Buffy was the first to approach the pair with a welcoming smile.

"Buffy, this is Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Buffy Summers," Giles introduced.

"Ah, the original Slayer," Lupin noted and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you."

Buffy smiled. "Well... I suppose you could call me that, it definitely was just me before all these other ones popped up."

"This is Willow Rosenberg," Giles continued, turning to add to Lupin. "She is the wandless witch I was talking about."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin," Willow greeted.

"Please call me Remus," Lupin insisted. "I would love to hear some more about your wandless magic sometime."

Willow nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely, I've still got a lot to learn about wand-wielding magic myself."

"And finally, this is Dawn Summers – Buffy's younger sister," Giles said as Dawn realised she was still in her pyjamas, so she pulled her robe tightly around herself before shaking hands with the newcomer.

Dawn noticed that after Lupin and Giles got into a deep conversation, Lupin glanced her way with a narrow-eyed look, as if he was debating something in his head. She immediately dismissed it because for one she'd only met the man a moment ago and he certainly didn't know her. _Geez, I'm really going crazy today,_ she thought.

She quickly excused herself and rushed upstairs to get dressed, deciding on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a light cardigan, noticing that even though it just the end of summer, it was a lot cooler up north. When she returned downstairs, there was no trace of Buffy or Willow. She asked Giles and he had explained that they'd decided to go for walk and get something to cook for dinner; leaving Dawn behind because she'd been ill yesterday and they thought that she should stay back to recover. She wasn't bothered by this because, to be honest, she'd didn't feel the most energetic today anyway. Shrugging in indifference, she then she went to the sitting room opposite the hall from the kitchen. It was a small room, with a few different chairs, a fireplace and a bookshelf spanning one entire wall. She selected a book at random and moved to sit in a high-back chair facing towards the small fireplace in the corner.

"Let's go into the sitting room, where it is more comfortable," Dawn suddenly heard Giles voice approach, as he and Lupin entered the room with the clinking of cups and saucers.

The two men sat down in chairs on the opposite side of the room, appearing to not notice Dawn's presence as the tall back of the chair masked her from view. Dawn was about to stand up and offer to give the two some privacy, however her curiousity got the better of her as the visitor spoke up.

"Before I forget, there was something else non-slayer related that I wondered if you could shed some light on before I left," she heard Lupin say.

"Of course, go ahead."

She heard some rustle of papers before Lupin spoke up again. "Well, there is something that has come to my attention, it involves something that is definitely not connected to the Wizarding Community - I've spent a few weeks researching with nothing to show for it, and thought that you might have heard of it. Rupert, would you know anything about something called 'the Key'?"

At the mention of 'the Key', Dawn had to stop herself from making herself known, covering a hand over her mouth in surprise; she was hanging on every word. What was this thing that Lupin had discovered about her? She sank deeper into her chair until her chin was almost tucked into the top of her chest.

"Actually, I have," Giles replied with a slight reluctance. There was a moment of silence, followed by another rustle of paper. "What's this?"

"One of the seers, that the Order is in contact with, came up with this prediction or prophecy, call it if you will. I was able to make sense of the majority of it; however the part with 'the Key' in it had me stumped... I assume it is a person, considering the nature of the prophecy," Lupin said, suddenly sounding excited to hear that Giles knew what he was talking about.

Right then and there, Dawn just wanted to yell "What's going on?" in the annoyance of not knowing what was happening, or what had been said about her in the prophecy, but she held back just a few more moments.

She could hear Giles mumble the words to himself as he read the sheet of paper Lupin had given him. Most of it she couldn't make out because it was too muffled, but her head snapped up and she dropped her book with an audible clunk when she finally heard Giles say loudly "... _in the form of a child_?"

Upon hearing those words, Dawn felt an overwhelming unease, deep in the pit of her stomach. "What?" She yelled, jumping out from her chair.

Both Lupin and Giles' heads snapped around in her direction, startled by her sudden appearance. Lupin's gaze then moved quickly between both Giles and Dawn. "You know who this is about? I was almost beginning to think that I'd never figure out, at least not before the prophecy came true."

Although he was clearly concerned by her presence, she was surprised when Giles' eyes looked away, only to realise that he was scanning quickly ahead to the next part of the text, before he looked back up to meet her worried gaze. "Dawn, could you please just give us a few minutes?"

Dawn opened her mouth to argue that whatever it was it involved her so she had a right to stay, but she stopped herself when Giles pleaded firmly. "_Please_, Dawn."

Dawn gave a frustrated sigh and immediately went upstairs and began pacing around her bedroom, the nervous knot in her stomach was getting larger by the minute. She wondered about what this prophecy involving her could possibly say, knowing it generally wasn't good news when Giles had sent her away to talk with Lupin privately. From her experience, prophecies generally weren't a good thing anyway.

_I think you already know what this is about..._ A voice in the back of her head told her, but in the sheer terror of what it was suggesting, she buried the voice amongst all her other racing thoughts. Meanwhile, fifteen minutes that felt to her like fifteen hours, had passed and the entire time she could think of nothing else but what Lupin and Giles could have been discussing, before she decided that she could wait no longer and marched back down the stairs.

"-think that if this prophecy came true, Dawn would be an enormous amount of danger, she probably already is as it stands," she faintly heard Lupin tell Giles as she approached the door, she decided to linger there for a moment to listen.

"Knowing about it now means we could do our best to prevent it from happening, to protect Dawn from-" Giles replied but was cut off.

"I'm sorry, Rupert, but I have to say that another way of looking at it is - do we want to prevent it? This could mean the end of the war for..." Lupin paused and she could hear him move in his chair. "Dawn has joined us again."

_That's a bit creepy,_ she thought to herself as she apprehensively joined the two middle-aged men in the sitting room, her body too tense to allow her to sit on the chair next to Giles, so she remained standing.

Dawn crossed her arms, getting straight to the point. "Okay, so what's going on?"

Giles hesitated. "Dawn... as you probably heard just before, Remus here has brought a prophecy from the Wizarding World, and it involves you."

"What does it say?"

"The prophecy word for word says," Giles picked up the document and adjusted his glasses. "_In the time when the evil one is growing strong and when fear is at its highest, the strength of the one who's survived him before and the created power of the Key shall combine in the form of a child to create a force, unlike any other, that will see good triumph over evil and restore the balance once and for all._"

Dawn frowned. "I don't understand - can you dumb it down for me?"

Giles looked up from the prophecy and over to Lupin _for_ help, also passing the piece of parchment over to Dawn to read for herself, she looked it over in hope that it would reveal something further but it simply said what Giles had read.

"Well, you see, Dawn," Lupin began. "In the Wizarding World, we are currently at war with a dark wizard called Voldemort – 'the evil one' as he is referred to in the prophecy."

"Which also fits in with the _'when fear is at its highest'_ part," Giles interjected.

Lupin nodded. "And then the next part refers to two people, obviously yourself, and 'the one who's survived him before', which is refers to a well-known wizard in our world - famous for sixteen years ago, as a very young child, surviving a confrontation with Voldemort, while both his parents were killed..."

_Uh oh, this sounds familiar, _she thought back to Harry telling her about his parents, her heart beating a mile a minute.

"Basically," Lupin continued. "The prophecy says that a child created between yourself and Harry Potter, the boy who survived Voldemort, will have to power to stop Voldemort and his followers – the Death Eaters."

Dawn was speechless did a double take, two things jumping out at her at the same time. "Wait a sec, the prophecy says that I'm supposed to have a kid! With someone called Harry... uh, Potter?"

Giles nodded grimly and attempted to put teen's mind at ease. "But now we know the prophecy we can prevent it from..."

Giles continued to talk but to Dawn it just sounded like a very distant drone, all the information was spinning in her head like a cyclone, in particular one word - '_child'_. She could feel her face draining of colour, imagining that she was beginning to look somewhat like a ghost, as the other two continued to talk. She immediately thought back to what had happened between her and Harry and then she knew.

She began to take a few steps backwards towards the doorway, the walls felt as though they were shrinking in on her and all she could think to do was to make a run for it. "This is... this is too much, I need time..." she trailed off and she flew out of the room at rocket speed, not caring what the other two thought.

The sound of her heartbeat was pounding so loudly in her ears, that she couldn't even hear her own footsteps as she ran up the stairs and back into the bedroom. Slamming the door behind her and fumbling for the lock, she made a beeline for the bathroom and proceeded to throw up for the second time that day. Thinking that Giles may have followed after her, in between waves of nausea, she started running the bath to drown out the retching and loud sobbing sounds in between. She collapsed on the floor and the tears began to flow fast and heavy, reality was hitting her like a tonne of bricks.

_How can this happen? This isn't real, _she thought to herself in disbelief; however deep down she'd known it was true as soon as she'd heard words out of Giles' mouth.

She was pregnant.

"What the fuck am I gonna do?" she cried out loud to no one in particular.

She eventually felt the nausea subside, so she turned off the running water, went out to the bedroom searching for the jacket she had worn yesterday. Once she had the very crumpled piece of paper in her hand, she collapsed over on her bed and curdled herself up into a tight, little ball. She cried herself to sleep, even though it was the middle of the day, staring at the note in her hand that simply read '_I'm really sorry_'.


	5. When Someone Finds Out

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Here's Chapter Five, not much to say here with this one. Once again, thanks heaps for everyone who is taking the time to review, it is really keeping me excited about this story the more reviews I get!

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><p><span>Chapter Five – When Someone Finds Out<span>

_This can't be happening. Not to me,_ Dawn first thought when she woke and glanced down at her stomach, as if she expected it to have changed in the space of a couple of hours; however it still appeared as flat as ever.

She thought back to that night for the millionth time. _The only reason it even happened is probably because of the prophecy, not because of me. And now..._ She couldn't bear to think of the possibilities, the tears threatening to take over once more, although at this stage it felt like she should have cried them all out earlier.

A gentle knock on the bedroom door drew her from her thoughts, as she shot off the bed and to the mirror hanging over on the side wall, above an antique set of drawers. She surveyed her appearance, there was no hiding the fact that she'd been crying, her eyes still slightly puffy and blotchy from earlier. She looked terrible.

"Dawn," Buffy poked her head around the door, as Dawn returned to sit on the bed. "Giles told me about what happened. Can I come in?"

"Sure," Dawn answered, taking a deep breath to steady herself and even attempting a smile, albeit a fake one. "How was your walk?"

Buffy shook her head with a frown, taking in her sister's appearance and sitting at the end of the bed against the bedpost. "That's not what I came to talk about; I came to talk about you... about the prophecy. Giles told me you were a bit rattled by it."

Dawn sighed, finding a spot in the corner of the room easier to look at then Buffy's eyes. _I can't tell them, not yet at least. How do I even explain everything to them anyway, when I can't even explain it to myself? _"Why is it always me? My life has always been controlled by someone or something else, it feels like I never have a say in it... So now there's a prophecy about me too?"

"I'm sure prophecies aren't 100 percent set in stone, Dawn," _Yeah, right._ Dawn thought sarcastically. "And for all we know this doesn't even need to come true, I was talking to Mr. Lupin before he left and he told me that there's a strong possibility that this Voldemort guy can be defeated soon. He said something about the boy in the prophecy is working on it now, all of his people are."

Dawn turned her head. "Lupin knows Ha-, uh, the guy in the prophecy?"

"Yeah, he said he was good friends with his parents before they were killed."

This news was definitely the first piece of good news she'd heard all day, and Dawn realised that at least now that Giles was in contact with Remus Lupin, she might be able to find a way to see Harry again. Boy, that was going to be one of the most awkward conversations of her life. At this point, she wouldn't even know where to begin, the whole idea of her being pregnant to begin with still seemed ridiculous to her.

Buffy reached out and placed her hand over her sister's. "You sure you're okay?" Dawn nodded dejectedly. "Prophecies suck, I know... It's not as if this one is gonna happen now that we know about it, anyway it's not like you're just gonna jump into bed with a complete stranger."

While Buffy was laughing at her last comment, Dawn felt like she could have just died right then and there thinking about if Buffy knew the truth, then again she probably would kill her anyway. She knew not responding to this would cause unnecessary suspicion, so she gave the smallest laugh, the only one that she was capable of right at that moment. "Yeah, true..." she said quietly to break the silence.

"You know what? I think I'll go for a walk, clear my head," Dawn said suddenly, not trusting herself to continue the conversation without letting Buffy in on anything.

Buffy hesitated. "Uh, Dawn, I think you should stay put - with this prophecy and everything you could be in more trouble than usual."

"Fine, whatever," she mumbled in annoyance as she fled the room anyway. _I'm already in more trouble than you know... and it's not even Tuesday_.

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><p>The next two days for Dawn were spent hanging uselessly around the house. In the late evenings and early mornings, she would try her hardest to not wake anyone, running back and forth in alarm, only just making it to the toilet bowl in time. On this particular day, the queasiness stayed with her into the afternoon, she tried to hide it with a cheery attitude despite the fact that nothing could be farther from the truth. She was extremely thankful that she only had to excuse herself twice, attempting to do so with the utmost subtlety.<p>

_If this is 'morning' sickness, then whoever came up with that name had a terrible sense of humour,_ she grumbled to herself as she went over to the basin and splashed her face with cold water.

Dawn was getting frustrated, perhaps she was being paranoid about someone discovering her secret, but she felt like she couldn't go anywhere around the house without one of the other three escorting her. _It's like they think I'm gonna go run off and get pregnant if they don't keep an eye on me, even though we all know about the prophecy now... well, and probably pregnant already,_ an annoyed and terrified voice thought.

She was also presented with another problem, if she couldn't escape the watchful eyes of Buffy, Willow and Giles, how was she to know for sure of whether she was in for seven to eight months of hell? Not to mention whatever lay beyond that. And even though she was pretty sure the prophecy had already been set into motion and that she was probably pregnant, she felt like she really needed to hear it from someone else before she could really started believing it. She would also require a proper medical check-up she would need if she was.

So instead, she spent her time sulking around the house, the majority of it reading by the window in the kitchen or in the sitting room by the front door. She generally tried to avoid talking to the others as much as possible, hoping they would just think that she was upset about the prophecy, because she always felt like her secret was on the tip of her tongue, just waiting to accidentally slip out.

"Dawn," Giles' voice carried into the kitchen from the sitting room across the hall.

She laid her book down and went to go into the sitting room, but as soon as she stood, her eye-sight and balance became unsteady and she felt a slight light-headedness, so she had to wait a few seconds for it to pass. This was another symptom that was just screaming the truth out to her, however much she tried to account it to something else. She finally made a move, and when she entered the sitting room she found Buffy, Willow and Giles were all sitting there waiting for her.

"What's up?" she asked, throwing herself in the nearest chair.

"So, Giles was just saying that he got another letter from that Lupin guy and," Buffy began, drawing out the last word for a moment. "We just all talked about it and think it's probably a win-win situation for everyone if we go with him to that wizard's school."

Dawn huffed at this. "Nice to know you consulted me about this!" After the harsh words had left her mouth, Dawn was quick to scold herself; she really needed to get her brewing unease under control, and not let it influence her and play it cool instead. "...You mean all of us, right?" She asked hopefully, one of the things she thought about the most was finding Harry, and even though she remembered that he'd told her he wasn't going to Hogwarts this year, going there felt like one step closer. "Or are you gonna look me in a panic room and leave me there?"

Buffy wasn't impressed at Dawn's little quip. "It's for you own good, Dawn. We've gotta take this prophecy and the risks that come with it very seriously... I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Hogwarts is one of the safest places you can be, according to this," Willow added, holding up a copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ that Lupin sent by owl earlier that day; it was actually quite disturbing how they'd already adjusted to the sight of the birds appearing at the window, but then again they'd seen almost everything living on the Hellmouth. "I've also had some signs that there may be some slayer activity there, it's hard to tell 'coz all of the magical energies tend to block out any of the tracing spells we've been using."

"Yes, and that's why we're _all_ going," Giles stipulated, right before there was a knock on the door, he turned and looked in that directly looking unsurprised by it all. "Oh, and plus a few extras."

Willow jumped up excitedly and raced around to the front door to greet the visitors. "You made it! I missed you guys," Dawn couldn't see her from where she sat but could hear her greet them clearly.

"I missed you too, Will," Dawn heard a male voice from the hallway. _Wait, I know that voice..._

"Hey, how've you been?" Willow happily greeted a second visitor, albeit with slightly less familiarity than the first one.

"South America was a blast, had to get this one back to you guys though, he was getting a bit whiny," a female voice answered.

As soon as the newcomers came into view, Dawn flew out of her chair and straight into the male visitor's arms. "Xander! I can't believe you're here!"

She felt Xander warmly returned the embrace, enjoying the feeling of doing something she hadn't been able to do for several months. "Dawnie! Have you grown or something?"

"I missed you heaps," she said as they lingered in the hug for a moment, before she knew what she was doing; a few tears had escaped down her cheeks. She moved quickly to brush them away, hoping no one had noticed.

"Hey, these guys haven't been treating you _that_ bad, have they?" Xander joked as he pulled away from the hug; if he had noticed Dawn's reaction, she probably wasn't fooling any of them.

She looked up at him in embarrassment and threw him an awkward smile; she really didn't know where the tears had come from. Then it hit her. _It can't be hormones, please! _In an attempt to cause a distraction, she quickly turned to greet the second visitor, while Xander gave Buffy a hug so tight that he lifted her off the ground and swung her around.

"Good to see you, D," Faith smiled as she gave Dawn a brief hug, then moving to give Giles the same treatment.

"Hey Faith, when did you guys get here?" Dawn inquired.

"Just flew in today, we were hoping to get here sooner, but a slayer in Brazil needed our help before we could come."

Xander slung one arm around Buffy's shoulder, doing the same with Willow on the other side. "Can't believe the gang's back together," he paused briefly. "Well... most of us."

At this, an air of sadness had suddenly fallen over the group. Silently, they looked over at each other, taking a moment to remember the last time they were all properly together back in Sunnydale, with Anya and Spike. Dawn still strongly felt their loss, as she was sure the rest of them did, each in their own way.

"Okay, so who wants a coffee?" Buffy said suddenly in a slightly strained voice, breaking the sombre atmosphere.

They all eagerly followed Buffy's movement across into the kitchen; Dawn fell to the back of the group with Xander, he threw an arm around her shoulder and looked across at her thoughtfully. "So seriously Dawn, I keep thinking there's something different about you."

Dawn pulled down her t-shirt self-consciously and shrugged. "Uh, I dunno. I may have grown my hair an inch or two."

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, Xander was distracting everyone with his stories from South America, joking about how Faith 'ran a tight ship' whilst they were working together. Dawn saw this as an opening for her to sneak away for a while and see if she could have any luck in a finding a doctor to substantiate her fears. So, she made no hesitation in grabbing a light jacket and her handbag from her room, rushing quietly back down the stairs and then carefully creeping her way towards the front door, being mindful of the floorboards squeaking underneath her.<p>

"Where are you sneaking off to so fast, D?" A voice made her jump, just as she was quietly opening the door.

She paused mid-movement and then whipped around to her right, craning her neck to spot Faith in the sitting room doing some push-ups on the carpet. When the older woman had finished her set, she pushed up into a kneeling position and looked up at the younger woman. She promptly closed the door again and stepped into the doorway, turning her head so far was hurting her neck.

"Geez, Faith! You scared the shit outta me," Dawn exclaimed, trying not to be loud enough that it would be heard by the rest of the household. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, you didn't answer mine just then either," Dawn replied cheekily.

Faith smiled and continued to stare at her, her eyes boring into her with curiousity until Dawn finally cracked, although there was no way she was going to tell the slayer the truth. Dawn threw her hands up defensively. "Okay, okay!" she sighed. "I just wanted to get out of here for a few hours... Buffy's been too over-protective lately and I just needed some space."

"Any reason why she should be all protective?" Faith asked suspiciously.

Sensing that if she could just play her cards right here, she could talk her way out of this; Dawn looked straight into her eyes and put on her most honest-sounding voice. "Nope... you know how Buffy gets - she doesn't think I can manage a few hours by myself. Please don't tell her I'm gone? She needs to chill - I'll only be an hour or two, besides, she probably won't even notice."

Faith sighed, looking like she was being put in an awkward position. "I dunno, D... Buffy would have my head if I lied to her about you."

"Fine, don't lie then if she asks," Dawn suggested slowly, thinking for a moment. "But... you don't have to go out of your way to tell her I've gone either."

"I like your style," Faith got back down on the floor, ready to do another set of push-ups. "Stay out of trouble or I'm dead," she called as Dawn hurriedly thanked her and rushed out the door and down onto the street without hesitation, in case Faith suddenly changed her mind.

As soon as she was down the street, she pulled out a map she'd smartly placed in her bag earlier, just in case she did get her opportunity to escape for an hour or two. She unfolded it and immediately began scanning around until she found the little mark she had made on there, symbolising the location of a nearby doctor's office, luckily it was only about a mile's walk away. She began to walk along, knowing that she had to be quick for her absence to go by unnoticed; however it wasn't long before she felt a nagging feeling that she was being watched. _Faith wouldn't follow me... would she?_ She wondered. She shook it off and continued along at a fast pace.

When she arrived at the doctor's office, she was greeted by a short, plump older lady at the reception, who told her to take a seat and wait for the doctor. She glanced around to see that there were only two other people sitting there in the waiting room, trying to pass the time by reading the old, crumpled magazines on offer. Dawn felt her heart beat rising in nervous anticipation as she sat there, in a matter of moments she was most likely going to hear two words that would change her life forever. Thankfully, the wait wasn't too long before a younger woman, in her thirties came out into the waiting room and called out her name.

"Miss Jenkins?" The doctor called out, Dawn had decided to use a different surname in the rare chance that someone else came looking for her here, so Anya's surname was the first to pop into her head when the receptionist had asked for one.

Dawn followed the doctor into her office and timidly sat down in the uncomfortable chair opposite the doctor's desk, feeling somewhat like she was going to pass out from anxiety by that particular moment.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Meyer. How are you today?" the doctor politely asked in a thick Scottish accent, to which Dawn timidly mumbled a response. "So, Miss Jenkins, what can I help you with today?"

"Uh, please call me Dawn," she began quietly, suddenly feeling very interested in the posters on the back wall instead of the doctor's gaze aimed directly at her. "I-I think... uh, I think I might be pregnant."

The doctor gave a reassuring smile, obviously having dealt with these circumstances many times before. "Don't worry Dawn; I've had many girls in here in your situation. Well, what we can do is start by doing some tests to see if you are in fact pregnant, and then we'll go from there, alright?"

Dawn nodded nervously as Dr. Meyer got everything organised; the doctor made some conversation to keep her more at ease. "So, are you living here with your family or just here for a holiday?"

"Just travelling around Europe and the UK with my sister - she's my legal guardian," Dawn replied trying to sound well-mannered, all while a voice in her head was screaming for her to hurry up already. "Uh, we just drove up here from London the other day."

The doctor gave an acknowledging nod and then sent Dawn to the connected bathroom to get a urine sample for the test. When she was done, Dr. Meyer then placed a small strip in the sample and assured Dawn that it was only a short wait to see the results. While they were waiting, she was sat back down and asked her if it was alright to go through a few questions with her. All Dawn could manage was a shaky nod, while the doctor got her pen out and began scribbling down the necessary information as she went.

"So Dawn, how old are you?"

"Uh, seventeen," she quickly answered, feeling completely self-conscious that the doctor was currently judging her for her age and what she was in for. Meanwhile, she began tapping her foot nervously on the floor.

"And how long has it been since your last menstrual cycle?"

Dawn counted back in her head for a moment before answering, only then realising how long ago it had been. "About the 19th of July... I think."

The doctor continued to scribble on her file. "And finally when was the last time you had sexual intercourse?"

Dawn turned a little pink with embarrassment. "W-well, it was only once... maybe five, no... six weeks ago," she answered softly, not wanting to yell the details of her sex life out for the world to hear.

The doctor looked up and gave her a sympathetic smile; at least putting Dawn's mind at ease that she was thinking that she was a complete skank. "The results should be in by now," Dr. Meyer got up momentarily and quickly returned, checking over her notes. "Well, Dawn... the results are positive. You are pregnant. About eight weeks."

Although she felt completely overcome with emotions upon hearing those words, Dawn managed a nod, and tried to hold them in, while the doctor continued on and it took all her strength to focus on what was being said. She explained to her where she could go from here, encouraging Dawn to tell her sister for the support, and also prescribed her with some prenatal vitamins, which she could collect from the front reception. Although she was pretty sure before that she was pregnant, the puking her guts out all the time being a good indicator, she was hoping that this was all just some nightmare she was going to wake up from, but having the doctor confirm it made it all too real. She felt like she'd been slapped in the face. And hard.

"Good luck, Dawn," Dr. Meyer wished her when they finally finished up and headed back into the waiting room. "Remember that you have several options, but make sure you think them through carefully before you decide anything."

_The doctor's right,_ she thought as she went to collect her vitamins from the reception. _I could make this all go away if I wanted to. _It only took her a few seconds to realise that she would never be able to bring herself to do that, it would be too hard, especially with the responsibility the prophecy had bestowed upon her – could she turn her back on that like a coward? She couldn't fight what had already happened, it had all happened for a reason, even if she wished so strongly that it hadn't happened to her.

She left the doctor's office, feeling like she wasn't really in proper control of her body; she was on autopilot from the shock. Although, she still had enough common sense to hide the container of pre-natal vitamins, slipping them into one of the small pockets on the inside of her bag. No one was likely to find it there. Almost forgetting which direction she'd come from because she was so distracted by her racing thoughts, she eventually started down the street. However, she didn't get very far before she was sure that there was someone following behind her, even though she couldn't see them she had that definite tingling of the hairs on the back of her neck and could definitely feel a set of eyes on her. She took a few steps more, the unnerving sensation not leaving her, so she came to an immediate halt.

"I know you're there," she called out over her shoulder in a slightly tentative voice, before spinning on her heels to see if anyone had revealed themselves. "You can keep following me, but I know you're there anyway!"

She had expected Faith, who could have easily followed her after she left, or even Buffy, who may have interrogated her location out of the brunette slayer. However, she was more than surprised when a figure slid out from behind the nearby picket fence and it was someone entirely different standing before her.

"Mr. Lupin! H-how long have you been following me?... And why?"

_Shit, _she cursed to herself. She wondered just how long the wizard had been following her, did he see where she went?

"Call me Remus," Lupin first insisted, approaching the teenager with a slightly grim expression, which made Dawn fear the worst. "I had different spells set on the house, one alerting me of anyone coming or leaving, and was quick to realise that you'd wandered off by yourself," he paused and cleared his throat, as if he was trying to figure out how to approach the next thing he was going to say. If he'd been following her since she'd left the house, realising where she'd tried to sneak off to, then she already knew what was coming. "Dawn... are you already pregnant?"

The weight of her secret that she'd been keeping for days suddenly felt like it had been washed off her shoulders, and the first thing she could do was cry. The tears were rapidly flowing as she slumped down onto a nearby stone wall, dropping her head into her hands, all the while Lupin stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to proceed.

"When?" Lupin asked softly, reaching in his pocket and producing a tissue, to which Dawn managed a small smile as he handed it to her.

She sniffed and tried to compose herself. "The d-doctor told me I'm eight weeks."

Lupin thought for a moment. "Rupert told me you were in London around then... ah, that would have been just after Bill and Fleur's wedding. Uh, Dawn, does anyone else know?"

Dawn was slightly confused by his little monologue, and had absolutely no idea what this Bill and Fleur's wedding had to do with anything, but looked over at him with tear-stained eyes and quickly shook her head. "Uh, except for the doctor just then."

Lupin turned and looked back down the street for a moment. "I'll have to deal with that later, but first we have to get you safely back to the house."

She frowned at his comment. "What do you mean 'deal with that later'?"

"Considering the seriousness of the situation, the less people who know the better, it'll only be a simple memory spell to make sure the doctor forgets your visit," he explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

This immediately stirred up some uncertainty in Dawn, she'd seen what memory modification could do when Willow had done it on Tara a couple of years ago. She certainly didn't feel very comfortable with the idea that that nice doctor had to have some of her memories taken away just from being into contact with her, and the fact that Lupin had seemed so nonchalant about it all. It didn't seem right to her, however still caught up in everything else, Dawn said nothing on the subject and followed Lupin, as he continued down the street.

* * *

><p>When they approached the house a quarter of an hour later, Dawn having grilled Lupin about everything to do with the prophecy and Harry the entire way, Lupin stopped her before they entered through the front gate.<p>

"I'll be back in the morning to take you all to Hogwarts, it'll be a much safer place for you to be right now, " he explained softly, despite her earlier hesitations, she could see that he was a trustworthy man. "Now, you do plan to tell your sister everything? She can protect you, you know."

Dawn shook her head, she wasn't ready to open up that can of worms yet, and besides she knew exactly who the next person to find out should be, at least if she could help it. "She can't protect me if she wants to kill me when I tell her... I can't, not yet. But Harry deserves to know." She just hoped that Lupin would willingly keep her news to himself for the time being.

"I understand, but it might be a little difficult at the moment - the last I heard of his whereabouts was about two weeks ago and that was from another Order member, who obviously doesn't know the current situation. I will try my best to track him down and bring him back to Hogwarts, but it might take some time," Lupin momentarily put his hand on her shoulder when he saw a troubled expression fall across her face, the sudden thought that she may not be able to find Harry had crossed her mind.

"I...I should go inside," she said quickly, as Lupin's hand returned to his side. "I'll tell them eventually... I'm not ready yet."

The older man nodded, as she made her way through the front garden, staying at the front gate. "I'll be back first thing in the morning... for your own safety, try not to wander off again."

As if she didn't already have enough currently running through her head, she was suddenly struck with fear of what had happened while she was gone. Did they know she was gone? When she first entered the house, it appeared completely still and she wondered if anyone was home, she thought maybe they were out looking for her or perhaps they hadn't even noticed her absence. The slamming of the front door brought a sudden onslaught of footsteps from the kitchen as Buffy raced towards her, followed by everyone else.

"Dawn! Where the _hell_ did you go?" she demanded as she dragged her sister by the arm into the front sitting room.

Dawn cursed the Powers That Be - to add to the dreadful day she was having, of course everyone had to notice that she had left. She quickly shook her arm free from her sister's painful grasp, feeling all eyes on her waiting for an explanation.

"What?" she asked as she looked around at everyone - Buffy looked angry, Willow, Xander and Giles all concerned, and Faith looked slight guilty. "The way you've been suffocating me, no wonder I needed to escape!"

Buffy scoffed, throwing her hands on her hips. "I'm trying to protect you! Even just the existence of the prophecy puts a target on your head, if anyone finds out about it. So then we find out that you've disappeared without anyone knowing-"

"Hey, actually, that's not true," Dawn cut her off, glancing over towards Faith who threw her a 'thanks for dobbing me in' look.

They all turned to glare daggers at Faith, who threw her hands up defensively. "Hey, I didn't have a clue about that prophecy thing until Giles told me just then!"

"What prophecy?" Xander asked looking confused.

Buffy was about to continue laying into Dawn before Willow put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and Dawn immediately felt grateful for the redhead's interjection. "It's okay, Buffy. Dawn's in one piece and you won't do it again, will you Dawnie?"

Dawn shook her head. "Especially not if there's gonna be a big production like this next time!"

"Seriously, what prophecy?" Xander pushed in amongst the chaos; however he continued to go unnoticed.

Meanwhile, Buffy's eyes had narrowed in anger. "There's not gonna be a next time!"

Dawn was just about to retort back and give Buffy a piece of her mind, when Giles suddenly cut in.

"Dawn," Giles said calmly, peering out the front window. "Did I see Remus outside before?"

She took a deep, soothing breath. "Yeah, he's got some sorta spell on the house, knows when some is coming or going and he was just checking to see if everything was peachy. I told him I was just sneaking off to clear my head," Dawn explained as Buffy began to open her mouth to say something. "And don't worry; I got the whole lecture from him too!"

Giles nodded in acknowledgement with a look that Dawn couldn't quite read. "He'll be back in the morning to escort us all to Hogwarts."

In the meantime, Xander had thrown up his hands in frustration of being ignored. "Seriously, Hog-whats? I'm so confused," he asked, to which Willow leaned over to him and said quietly "I'll tell you later."


	6. When They Go To Hogwarts

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Come on, guys! 7 reviews from 5 chapters? I know you can all do a lot better than that, considering there are over a dozen people tracking the story. Please take the time to let me know what you think, and I'll love you all forever. Hehehe.

Oh and, I kept forgetting to mention that the song from Chapter Four is 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' by Irish band 'The Script'. And thanks to bPinion King/b for pointing out that I'd accidentally called it an Epilogue instead of a Prologue – I always do that, stupid brain!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Six – When They Go To Hogwarts<span>

The next morning came quickly; Dawn was quite pleased that, although she felt slightly uneasy on her feet, not once did she feel the need to be violently sick, huddled over the toilet bowl. Another thing she was thankful she could do that morning without any disgusting repercussions was be able to eat breakfast. As herself, Willow and Faith all sat in the kitchen eating, an abrupt cracking noise followed by the sudden appearance of Remus Lupin in the doorway, made Dawn spit out the mouthful of cereal she was in the process of chewing. None of them had expected, or knew for that matter, that the wizard was capable of such transportation.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Willow seemed quite impressed and fascinated.

The first thing that came to Dawn's mind was that she thought she'd heard that same cracking noise before but couldn't quite place where. "Can all you wizarding folk do that?" she asked, begrudgingly cleaning up the splattered milk and half-chewed cereal off the table.

"Generally, all wizards and witches can apparate like that when they come of age – after their seventeenth birthday," he explained as he pulled out something from his pocket, it was about the size of a large apple and wrapped up tightly in a cloth.

Suddenly it hit her, she remembered where she'd heard that sound before and was mentally kicking herself for even forgetting. "That must be what he did," she found herself muttering, as she thought back to that fateful night.

She only just realised that she'd heard that same cracking noise when Harry had mysteriously disappeared to avoid being caught by Buffy and Willow. Well, it certainly wasn't a mystery anymore, not that she had given it much thought it, being caught up in everything else, she hadn't given much thought of how Harry had escaped the hotel room without using the door or window.

"What who did?" Willow questioned her curiously, it was only then that Dawn realised that she'd spoken out loud. She really had to watch herself more closely.

Dawn shook her head, shooting a quick glance at Lupin, who was looking at her curiously. "Sorry, nothing important."

"So, this 'apparate' thing," Faith began, swinging around to sit on a backwards kitchen chair and resting her arms folded on the back of the chair. "Is that how we're getting to this Hogwarts place? Oh, and hey, I'm Faith," she added casually as an afterthought.

Lupin nodded politely. "Nice to meet you, you must be the other slayer Rupert has told me about," Faith gave a quick nod. "And in answer to your question - it wouldn't be very time-efficient as we would have to take turns doing side-by-side apparition, besides you can't apparate directly into the Hogwarts grounds and so there would be a decent walk involved," Lupin explained as Buffy and Xander joined them. "That's where this comes in handy."

He carefully unwrapped the item, he'd earlier pulled from his pocket, to reveal a petite, dark purple perfume bottle, taking care to place it on the kitchen counter without touching it. Dawn was completely confused as to why he'd gone to such an effort not to make skin contact with it and what exact it had to do with them getting to Hogwarts.

"A perfume bottle?" Buffy asked with raised eyebrows. "Unless we're all gonna pull an 'I Dream of Jeannie' and get shrunk down and carried in that bottle – I don't get it."

The others chuckled, while Dawn could see that the joke was obviously lost on Lupin. "Of course not, this is a portkey. A portkey looks like an ordinary item but actually has been enchanted to transport oneself from one place to another when touched."

"Ah Remus, you're here," Giles said as he entered the kitchen. "Oh, and you've got the portkey. Brilliant."

"You know what a portkey is, Giles?" Xander asked.

Giles nodded with a slight hesitation. "I've had the opportunity, while at the Watcher's Council, of using one a couple of times. It's an... _interesting_ experience. But anyway, you'll soon see for yourselves. Now if everyone could be ready within the hour, we'll be leaving just before nine o'clock," he informed them, checking his watch.

Just before everyone began fumbling around the house to get ready, Buffy wanted to ask one more question. "Lupin, one thing that crossed my mind earlier was - won't this Harry Potter guy from the prophecy be at Hogwarts? I'm not sure if it's the greatest idea-"

"Harry hasn't returned to Hogwarts this year, his whereabouts is currently unknown, so that won't be an issue," Lupin cut Buffy off to immediately put to rest any of her concerns; she seemed satisfied by his answer, although this stirred up the fear in Dawn from yesterday, that he wouldn't ever be found.

Having a million questions for the wizard, Dawn was relieved when she was able to pull Lupin aside once everyone had gone their separate ways. "Remus," she began but was cut off by him bringing a silencing finger to his lips.

"Just a moment..." Lupin trailed off, pulling his wand out from his pocket and muttering a spell, which was followed by a quick glow around the room. "Okay, go ahead - just had to make sure no one was listening in."

She knew that it wasn't the most appropriate time for a long discussion, but she found the more Lupin told her about magic and the Wizarding World, the more interested and excited to go to Hogwarts she found herself. There was also a slight feeling of butterflies in her stomach at the thought of going to the school where Harry had gone, she felt compelled to learn more about the father of her child because, let's face it – at this stage she pretty much knew almost nothing. The other thing that had briefly crossed her mind was - if Harry was a wizard and her being the Key, what would the baby be capable of doing as it grew? The prophecy said that it would be powerful enough to destroy an evil wizard, that nobody else had been able to do up until now. She hold those questions at bay for now, jumping straight to the most important one at that point in time.

"Um, I was just wondering," she said softly. "Will everything be okay with the portkey and well, you know," she trailed off, quickly glancing down at her stomach.

Lupin nodded reassuringly. "I've already taken that into consideration, it's the quickest but safest way I could think of for both of you to travel without resorting to muggle forms of transport."

Dawn was going to ask what a muggle was but once again decided it was best to save it for another time. She was relieved to hear that he had taken her safety into account, and didn't have any reason not to trust his judgement because if Giles trusted the man, than she should be able to as well.

Suddenly, Lupin had begun to busy himself with making a cup of tea. "With what you said just before," he began, glancing over his shoulder. "Did you see Harry apparate?"

Dawn nodded, coming to the realisation that Lupin was a very observant man. "Kinda... I only heard the cracking noise and turned to see him gone. It was kinda good he did, 'coz Buffy and Willow would've... you know, _caught_ us," she turned slightly pink as the last few words left her mouth.

It was a good thing that at this stage Dawn couldn't see Lupin's reaction; she already felt embarrassed enough as it was, sharing this with someone she barely knew and considering her lack of experience in that whole department. Furthermore, she was also thankful that he didn't find it necessary to reply to this either, perhaps adding to the embarrassment.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," Dawn quickly changed the topic, as Lupin turned and leant against the kitchen bench top, clutching his tea. "The first day you came to see Giles, when he introduced us, I noticed you gave me a strange look - what was the deal with that?"

Lupin thought back for a moment. "That's right; as I recall, I thought I sensed the slightest difference with you, compared with the others."

"You mean my Key-ness?"

"Not exactly," he answered as he tried to find the right words. "I believe, well, I presume I was picking up on the baby, I just didn't realise it at the time."

Dawn panicked - just how many other people would be able to tell? "If you could feel it then what's stopping half of Hogwarts from knowing when we get there?"

Lupin shook his head. "Don't worry about that, this sense is something that no one at Hogwarts will have."

Dawn tried to put the pieces together, then her eyes widened as she came to a realisation. "You're not just a wizard are you?... Are you a werewolf?"

"How did you know?" His face lit up in surprise and apprehension, she also observed that he'd shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"Well for starters - I'm the sister of a Slayer, I've seen just about everything. And secondly, I know another werewolf back home, Oz, and every now and then he could sense things like that..." she explained, noticing that the werewolf seemed to relax when she spoke fondly of Oz. _People mustn't have reacted well to him being a werewolf in the past,_ she thought to herself. "You know what, you should ask Giles about Oz – I know Oz would love to get in touch with a fellow werewolf."

"He's been able to control his transformations?" Dawn nodded. "And without a potion?" Lupin asked curiously.

"You could say that," Dawn explained. "He found a group of others that were able to help him back when he was having some trouble with it; he's doing well now, last I heard."

The sudden sound of her sister's voice brought a premature end to their conversation."Dawn? Are you packed already?" Buffy's call from upstairs echoed throughout the house. Both their heads had snapped around at this sudden sound.

Lupin turned back to look at her. "Thank you, Dawn, I'll be sure to ask Giles about that," he said warmly, obviously quite relieved on how accepting she was of his werewolf side, because not many were.

Dawn smiled at him before she turned and ran upstairs to pack.

* * *

><p>The portkey experience for the group was a bizarre one, even though Lupin had tried to best prepare them for it, most of them ended up landing with a thud on their backsides, excluding Buffy and Faith who obviously had an advantage of slayer reflexes and control. When they had all appeared on the track in front of the Hogwarts' gates, Dawn was thankful that Lupin had given her a steadying hand to keep her too from falling on her back, or from doing any other damage. Although, she didn't get by without any negative effects from their journey, as the others took in the sights of Hogwarts in the distance, Dawn cursed as she felt that nauseous feeling rise up throat.<p>

"Crap," was all she managed to get out before she had to dash over to a nearby bush to throw up, all the while mentally chastising herself for thinking she could go a day without doing so.

Because he was already right there to stop her from losing balance when they'd first appeared, and probably was already expecting some sort of nausea, Lupin was the first there to make sure she was alright. Buffy was quick to follow him.

"Wow, you've had a weak stomach lately, first the carsickness and now this. You okay?" Buffy asked as she pulled back Dawn's long, brown hair.

_Geez, lucky Buffy's a bit too much of a blonde sometimes, _Dawn thought to herself, thinking that when Buffy worded it like that and had full knowledge about the prophecy, surely she'd be able to put two and two together.

Fortunately for Dawn, she didn't say anything else on the matter and the ill feeling quickly passed, so she joined the others again. "Yep. Just a little queasy, no biggie... Wow, is that Hogwarts?" She wanted to swiftly change the focus off her, especially when Faith gave her a lingering look, which threw Dawn into momentarily feeling a panic; however the slayer simply shrugged and turned to admire the castle with everyone else.

The school was the most amazing building she'd ever seen, and probably twice the size she had imagined it to be from what Giles and Lupin had told her. As soon as her eyes had set upon the castle, she thought she felt as if Hogwarts was calling her in for some reason, and she gave a confused frown. This feeling increased as they all made their way up to the gates - she felt right at home. But how could this be when she'd never even been to Hogwarts before? They were met at the gates by easily the largest man any of the Scoobies had ever seen, who Lupin immediately greeted kind-heartedly.

"Good morning, Hagrid," Lupin said pleasantly to the giant man, with a smile.

"Mornin', Remus!" Hagrid replied enthusiastically, turning his attention to the newcomers. "Ah, I see yeh've brought the visitors."

"Yes, I know we're a little early, but I hope you still had time to make the accommodation arrangements," Lupin replied.

This immediately stirred up an unexpected excitement in Dawn; she'd never been in a castle before, much less one filled with magic, and to be staying there for who knows how long... she felt butterflies stir up in her stomach from it all.

Meanwhile, Hagrid had nodded. "Their bags arrived just before, took them up meself to their rooms."

"Excellent," Lupin replied, sounding pleased. "Hagrid... I would like to meet Rupert Giles, Buffy and Dawn Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris and Faith Lehane," he introduced while motioning towards each person as he spoke.

Hagrid took the time to smile at each one of them, including Dawn, who could already see that there was a friendliness and likeability to the extremely tall man by the manner in which he greeted them all. Eventually, he directed his gaze towards the two women standing to the right of her. "You must be the slayers," he said looking at Buffy and Faith. "Nice to meet yeh's."

"Hey, Hagrid," Buffy greeted, as she craned her head up to look at him. "Wow, you're tall! Must run in your family?"

Hagrid chuckled light-heartedly. "Half-giant meself, actually."

"Hagrid is also the Grounds and Keys Keeper here at Hogwarts," Lupin explained. "As well as our Magical Creatures Professor."

This perked the attention of several of the Scoobies, particularly Xander. "Magical Creatures? Like Dragons and stuff?" Hagrid nodded and Dawn watched as Xander's face light up like a child on Christmas morning. "That's so cool!"

"Well, off we go. Follow me," Hagrid replied with a hearty laugh, motioning them onwards and they all began the journey up to the castle entrance. Dawn followed towards the back of the group, and as they got closer to the castle, the reality of the sheer size of it became apparent to her, she was almost safe in thinking that it was bigger than Sunnydale was.

When they finally ascended on the dauntingly-large front entrance to Hogwarts, a sense of both calm and nervousness washed over Dawn. She somewhat felt like she was coming home, yet she'd obviously never set foot on these grounds, but she took comfort in it. There was also a nervousness that had stirred within in her at the thought that through those doors were many people who knew, and were probably friends of the father of her child. Only months ago, he'd walked the corridors of this castle, and that gave her hope that he'd soon be back again and she would get to see him again – there was definitely so much to talk about too.

Once inside, they were greeted by an older, distinguished woman wearing dark burgundy robes and her greying hair twisted up in a bun. Hagrid introduced her to all the newcomers as Professor McGonagall, the recently appointed headmistress of Hogwarts. Dawn thought that she looked like she was the kind of teacher you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of, yet there was also a softer, maternal side to her as well.

Professor McGonagall gave a polite nod to acknowledge the visitors. "Please all make yourselves comfortable in the rooms that we've organised for you be staying in, which have been accommodation for our teaching staff in the past. Except for Miss Summers here," she paused to look towards Dawn. "We have a spare bed up in one of our student houses, which we all thought was more appropriate for her, to be with others her age."

Buffy, Willow and Giles all nodded in agreement. Dawn immediately suspected that they all had a role to play in this, thinking that she was struggling with not being around people her own age. Given the current situation, she wasn't at all upset to be staying away from them; she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hide her pregnancy if she was sharing with her sister or Willow, surely they would've noticed her morning sickness. Then again, she hoped that whoever it was she was staying with wouldn't notice either; one way or the other, it was a difficult situation.

McGonagall continued on. "The students have been informed that visitors were arriving from the newly reformed Watcher's Council, as were two slayers. However, the students do not know the real reason behind your visit; they simply believe you to be here for extra security for Hogwarts in these dark times." She had a grim expression for a moment, before she brought her hands together. "Now, we'll let you get settled in properly. Hagrid will see to it that there is a tour around the castle and then we will all be back here at the Great Hall for dinner at 6pm. I look forward to properly meeting you all later."

"Now, if yeh would all like to follow me, I will show you all to yeh rooms," Hagrid began. "Except for Dawn, Miss Brown will show yeh to the Gryffindor Tower."

Just then a girl about Dawn's age, with blonde hair and a red and gold scarf wrapped around her neck approached the group. She threw an obligatory smile at the group and wandered over to Dawn. "Hi, I'm Lavender, Lavender Brown."

"Hi, I'm Dawn," Dawn replied with smile, although still yet to make a judgment on the girl.

Buffy turned to Dawn. "Okay Dawn, be careful and we'll met back up when Hagrid gives us the grand tour."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Be careful? Giles already said that this is one of the safest places to be, how much trouble can I get here?"

Buffy threw her a sceptical look before the group began to follow Hagrid up the nearest staircase, with the exception of Giles and Lupin who lingered back with the intention of discussing something important with the Headmistress. Dawn figured it must have been about the slayer they thought was somewhere at Hogwarts.

"Well anyway," Lavender chirped, as she led Dawn out of the Entrance Hall. "Let's go up to the girl's dormitories in the Gryffindor Tower – you'll be staying with me and Parvati in the seventh year girl's dorm."

"What's Gryffindor?" Dawn quizzed as the amount of corridors and turns they made had meant she'd already lost her sense of direction.

Lavender let out a laugh, as if the question was a kind of insult to her. "Only the best house at Hogwarts... you see there are four houses that all the students are sorted into: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They're all generally known for their different traits..."

"And what's Gryffindor known for?" Dawn inquired hesitantly, still undecided on whether she liked the blonde witch yet.

"Bravery, of course. Especially when it has the one and only Harry Potter in it."

Dawn's ears perked up and her head snapped to look at the girl beside her. "Did you just say Harry Potter?"

Lavender grinned and there was an air of smugness to it, Dawn was starting to get a bit annoyed by it. "Yes, he's a seventh year too... although he and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, haven't returned this year." Dawn noticed there was a slight bitterness in Lavender's tone as she said the two names. "I heard something about them being off with some secret mission that Harry was given before Dumbledore, the last Headmaster, died... I see even though you're a Muggle you've still heard about Harry Potter and You Know Who."

She quickly shrugged Lavender's observation away because she suddenly had so many questions, one being she still wanted to know what a muggle was. She spent the entire walk up to the Tower trying to find out from Lavender as much about Harry as possible.

* * *

><p>After a week, and many wrong turns and dead ends around the castle later, the 'Scoobies' seemed to feel a little less out of place at Hogwarts, Willow in particular was having the time of her life finding out all about the Wizarding World. Strangely, for Dawn she'd felt quite at home in the castle from the moment she'd arrived, except in the dormitory she was sharing with Lavender and Parvati – trying to hide morning sickness whilst sharing a room with two other people proved extremely difficult. Fortunately, she had managed to so far by trying to be up and about before they had even woken up each morning; therefore if the sickness reared its ugly head, she'd be able to find a girl's bathroom in a more deserted part of the castle to puke her guts out.<p>

One particular afternoon, Dawn was intending to see if Lupin was around the castle so that she could quiz him about his progress in finding Harry's whereabouts. Thankfully, Buffy and the others were out of her hair for a few hours; they were still looking into locating the slayer that had been linked to Hogwarts. She saw this as a perfect opportunity to track down the werewolf to talk.

However, she was quickly side-tracked by the familiar nauseous wave beginning to wash over her. She glanced down at her stomach and spoke under her breath, frustratingly. "Seriously, please stop... I've got nothing left to barf up!"

In a matter of seconds, she felt it rising up her throat, and so she dashed along the corridor and into a nearby girl's bathroom. She was familiar with this particular bathroom because she'd hidden out in there the day before. Without hesitation, she ran into the nearest stall and proceed to vomit up the food she'd actually quite enjoyed at lunch, all while hoping that nobody was nearby to witness the unpleasant display because she hadn't exactly had a chance to check if the room was empty.

"Are you okay?" A sudden soft, female voice appeared just outside her stall. Dawn hadn't had time to lock the door or even properly close it in her rush, so the stranger slowly pushed the ajar door completely open, in order to survey the situation.

The nauseous wave had passed for the time being, so she quickly wiped her mouth and fumbled to flush the toilet, before looking up at the owner of the voice. Before her stood a petite, red-headed girl, maybe slightly younger than her, with a look of concern on her features.

"I'm fine," Dawn replied, as she quickly stood up and tried to make it look as if it were nothing.

She marched over to the basins and splashed some fresh, cooling water over her heated face and took a quick sip in order to wash the horrible, acidic taste from her mouth. She steadied herself by gripping the basin and peered up to look at the red-headed girl in the mirror.

"Are you sure?" The redhead asked with a deep frown, the girl seemed quite sincere in her concern. Dawn quickly nodded. "I'm Ginny; by the way... you must be here with the slayers and those Watcher's Council people."

Dawn offered a friendly smile. "Yep, that would be me. I'm Dawn... I see you're in Gryffindor, I'm staying up there in the seventh year's dorm."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, I'm a sixth year in the dormitory just down the corridor from you. Are you sure you're alright? You must have eaten something bad... you're obviously not pregnant," the younger girl said with amusement, obviously hoping to get a laugh out of the situation.

Caught off-guard, Dawn's face immediately fell at the attempt of humour and the tears immediately began to leak from her eyes. She darted back towards the toilet, as round two of the current nausea washed over her. Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and horror, as she swiftly followed Dawn to hold her long, brown hair from falling in her face, as the older girl threw up for the second time in a matter of minutes.

"I'm so sorry, Dawn!" Ginny began apologetically, as sobs began to shake Dawn's body while she knelt over the toilet. "I was only joking... if I'd known, I wouldn't-"

"It's... it's o-okay," Dawn replied as she sat upright and accepted a tissue from Ginny to wipe her eyes.

"Have you known for long?" Ginny quizzed hesitantly, and Dawn could tell that she felt extremely awkward about the whole situation. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry or anything, but if you needed someone to talk to..."

She once again walked over to the sink, resting her hands on either side and dropping her head in misery, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I-It's all still pretty new... I-I haven't even told my sister yet," she glanced up to see Ginny looking confused. "S-She's the slayer – the blonde, short one... B-Buffy."

"Oh yes," Ginny said in a drawn out voice. "She's the one I saw arm-wrestling Hagrid yesterday, Merlin, she's _unbelievably_ strong."

Dawn turned to lean her back against the sink, trying to gain some composure. "Y-You see why I can't tell her - she'd kill me! I'm only seventeen... ugh, I can't do this!"

Even though Ginny was pretty much a complete stranger, Dawn had been struggling with her secret for over a week now, and actually felt some relief that she was talking to someone who just might be able to understand or sympathise with her situation. Yes, Lupin had been supportive so far, but it was nice to be able to chat with someone her own age.

"Please tell me if I'm being a prying bint, and don't worry, my brothers tell me I am all the time – but what about the father?... I'm assuming you haven't told him either," Ginny inquired softly.

She knew for everyone's safety, that she couldn't tell Ginny the complete truth, especially since being a Gryffindor, Ginny obviously knew Harry, although to what extent Dawn wasn't sure. Dawn quickly shook her head. "Well... it's so totally messed up and complicated! That's another reason I can't tell Buffy, she would know straight away who he is and track him down and do who knows what to him," Dawn shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all.

All of a sudden, Dawn felt slightly light-headed and decided to slide down the wall next to the basins until she was sitting up against it. She heard Ginny ask her one more time if she was feeling alright, who then followed suit until she was sitting beside the brunette.

"You could at least tell him, couldn't you?"

There were a couple of things that struck Dawn; firstly – it was nice to have someone to talk to who would just listen and not jump straight into an excruciatingly long lecture. Secondly, she felt quite comfortable opening up to Ginny, there was a soft and caring nature from the girl that made Dawn sure that, if she got to know Ginny better, she knew that they could become quite good friends.

"Please don't judge me after I tell you this," Dawn began cautiously, squeezing her eyes shut, while some tears still escaped. "But... I barely know him. I only met him once... Actually, I have no idea where to find him. I guess it's why I haven't told anyone, 'coz deep down I feel like I need to find him and tell him before anyone else. He deserves to know, but who knows if or when that'll happen... Oh god, this makes me sound like such a skank." She finally made eye contact with the redhead. "I'm totally not."

She quickly looked away in embarrassment. Her face had flushed slightly at her admission, which began her wondering how everyone, including strangers, would react to her once the truth got out. Basically, she was a pregnant seventeen-year-old from a one-night stand, how could that ever be looked at in a positive light? Meanwhile, a ghost of a frown appeared on Ginny's face; however Dawn got the impression that she was really trying hard to mask her reaction as to not offend her.

"You're right... that is quite complicated," Ginny noted awkwardly. "You haven't known for long, who knows what will happen, but all I know is that things always have some way of working out... I'm sure they do."

"Thanks..." Dawn trailed off with a small smile, feeling slightly buoyed by Ginny's positive attitude. "Anyway, enough about me - we could talk about this for hours if we don't stop," Dawn took note of the time and came to a sudden realisation. "Hey, classes are on at the moment, why are you hanging out in here? I can think of better places to hang out."

Dawn immediately noticed a change in Ginny's demeanour, as she turned her head away to stare intently at a random cobweb in the far corner. She knew then that the girl had plenty of her own problems. "Well, I don't really want to go to classes at the moment," Ginny explained sadly. "I... I just can't handle it right now..."

"If you wanna talk about..." It was Dawn's turn to counsel the other girl. "It's only fair, you've had to listen to me."

Ginny sighed and brought a hand up to her face, and she could tell that the redhead was trying hard to keep it all together. They sat in silence for a for more moments before she was able to form an answer. "It's pretty pathetic, really," Ginny began. "The boy I've basically been in love with since I was eleven... well, he broke my heart. I know there's a war going on at the moment and I have my OWLs coming up, but... but even though it happened months ago, it's all I can seem to think about. And it still hurts so much."

"What did he do? He didn't cheat on you, did he?"

Ginny was quick to shake her head, as a lone tear trickled down her porcelain-skin cheek. "No, nothing like that – he suddenly broke it off with me. He said he was protecting me, that he didn't want me to get hurt because of the war against You-Know-Who."

"Why would you get hurt by being with him?" Dawn asked, slightly confused.

She noticed that Ginny looked extremely uncomfortable, and suddenly it was like she didn't want to open up about it anymore, so the younger girl shook her head. "It doesn't matter... it's just like you - too complicated. And I just can't bear to talk about it right now, especially when it obvious that other people have larger problems," she finished, throwing Dawn a sympathetic look.

After a contemplative silence, Dawn finally spoke up. "You know what? We don't need them..."

Ginny frowned. "Who?"

"Men!" Dawn exclaimed, a little too loudly. "We've both been screwed over by guys; you're British – you'd have no problem taking a leaf out of the Spice Girls' book."

"Um, who?" the redhead replied again.

Dawn chuckled to herself at Ginny's thoroughly confused expression; she had to remember to stop throwing in muggle references (she finally knew what a muggle was) to the Wizarding-folk. "Doesn't matter. But anyway their motto was 'Girl Power!' – us girls have gotta look after each other. So, if you ever need someone to talk to..."

Ginny offered a small smile, putting her hand on the Dawn's shoulder as a symbol of gratitude. "Thank you."

"Right back at ya," Dawn replied sincerely.

Suddenly, the echo of the bell ringing out in the hallway broke the two out of their deep and meaningful conversation. Ginny brushed at her school skirt before she sprung up with a sudden enthusiasm, proceeding to offer Dawn a helping hand.

"I should go, Professor Trelawney wouldn't have noticed my absence, but if I show up late for Transfiguration with McGonagall..."

Dawn nodded; she looked over and noticed a large split in one of the wooden cubicle doors that she knew definitely wasn't there yesterday, when she'd made an unscheduled stop into the bathroom.

"That wasn't you, was it?" she asked, to which Ginny nodded sheepishly. "My sister Buffy likes to let loose on a punching bag to get her anger out, apparently it works well."

Ginny snickered, quickly checking her appearance in the mirror before giving Dawn another smile and walking towards the door. She briefly paused to add before she left, "Well, Dawn, if you need to talk or anything, I'm in the dorm right down the hall."

"Same goes for you, Ginny." And with that a friendship between the two began.


	7. When Dawn Gets Paranoid

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Well, I'd like to say that I am quite happy with this chapter, especially with the Dawn/Lupin interaction. It's quite funny how from when I got the idea of Lupin being the one to know about the prophecy how this has just been something that has almost written itself, and I think I fits well. Let me know what you think either way.

In my excitement of posting this story, I may have been a negligent in revealing the background to this story. For those of you who were wondering, this obviously includes some of the things from Deathly Hallows, but obviously the Ministry hasn't fallen (yet, at least), therefore Hogwarts is still under control and safe. But it is still extremely unsafe from increasing Death Eater attacks out and away from Hogwarts.

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><p><span>Chapter Seven – When Dawn Gets Paranoid<span>

Feeling decidedly better after her conversation with Ginny, Dawn found Lupin easily, who was reading up on something in the Staff Room with not a single other person in sight due to the afternoon classes. Although he had occasional Order business to take care of, the werewolf tried to spend most of his time divided between being at the castle to watch over and support Dawn, or out in the British countryside trying to get word of Harry, Ron and Hermione's whereabouts. Last Dawn had heard, much to her disappointment, he'd still had no luck in his search. It had been almost four days since he'd last been at Hogwarts, so she was extremely hopeful that there had been developments since his last visit.

"Ah, Dawn – I was just about to come and find you. How are you feeling?" he greeted warmly, as he peered up at her over his reading glasses.

"Ugh, well I can't handle any more vomiting, that's for sure," she began, and he gave her a sympathetic look. "So, any luck?" she asked optimistically, this was usually one of the first questions she would ask when they would see each other.

Lupin shook his head solemnly. Dawn's eyes were immediately drawn towards the dark circles under his eyes, which appeared to be getting more and more prominent each time she saw him - that and a growing mixed look of both stress and tiredness had her deeply concerned. He looked like a man that had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she couldn't help but feel responsible for this.

"On a more positive note," he answered, breaking her from her thoughts. "I believe that the fact that I'm having such difficulty in locating them means that they are doing a good job being in hiding... I'm sure they are somewhere safe and secure, away from where any Death Eaters can find them."

She offered nothing but a frustrated groan in response, as she slumped down into the chair across from the older man, the chair created an echoing, slightly ear-piercing squeak that was particularly loud in the quiet environment of the Staff Room. Leaning on the table, Dawn propped her head up with her hands under her chin and stared thoughtfully over at Lupin. "I'm totally grateful for everything you're doing, but you seriously don't need to burn yourself out with all of this," she said, deciding that she needed to say something to ease her guilt.

Lupin looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Hmm, how do I put this," Dawn began diplomatically; she paused carefully but then opted for just being direct in the end. "... You look like crap. Like you haven't slept at all lately... and I know it's nowhere near a full moon at the moment, so that's obviously not an excuse!" She sighed. "I'm sorry if it's 'coz of me and the prophecy and whatnot."

Lupin sighed with defeat; however he was very surprised and touched by the girl's concern. "I appreciate your concern, Dawn, but my insomnia is an unrelated topic. You needn't worry or blame yourself for any of this."

Still flopped against the table, Dawn studied him for a moment. "Hey, you're married, right?" She stated more than questioned, also indicated towards the clearly visible ring on Lupin's left hand. "Is it something to do with your wife?"

He dropped the quill he was writing with, took off his reading glasses and proceeded to pinch the bridge of his nose, he was usually an extremely private man, but there was something about the teenager and her genuine, although prying, nature that made it extremely difficult to not say anything further on the matter.

"Hey, you're helping me with all my messed-up problems, not that I'm saying your problems are messed up," she quickly added the last part, cursing herself for putting her foot in her mouth. "Anyway, maybe I can do it right back at ya," Dawn encouraged, as her propped up elbow suddenly slid on the table and collided with an ink well, sending it smashing onto the stone floor. "Oops... sorry."

Lupin couldn't help but smile at the teenage girl's antics, no matter how much strain he was under. "I'll be sure to introduce you to my wife Dora sometime, I have a feeling you two would get along famously." It was true, both women had much in common, including not taking 'no' for an answer and a knack for getting him to talk about things he didn't want to talk about.

Dawn picked up Lupin's abandoned quill and studied it with tremendous interest. "Your wife's in the Order too?" Lupin nodded. "Where is she at the moment? I'm guessing she's not happy that you've barely been around 'coz you've spent most of your time either here or out looking for Harry."

"You're right, she isn't happy," Lupin agreed. "Especially when she's about to enter her third trimester."

"She's having a baby? Congrats!" Dawn smiled warmly, however a frown soon formed when she saw Lupin's lack of enthusiasm. "...And you're not exactly happy about it, I'm guessing."

She watched as Lupin stood up awkwardly and proceeded to busy himself with the books on the nearby shelves. "Don't misunderstand me; I love my wife very much... however, this was completely unplanned, not to mention it's extremely complicated."

Dawn cursed herself as the quill she was playing with unexpectedly spat ink all over the t-shirt she was wearing. She promptly dropped the quill, examining the dark blue stain seeping into the cotton fabric. She was having a particularly clutzy day.

"Hey," she called out, gesturing to her still-flat stomach. "If there's anyone who's gonna understand all of that, it's definitely gonna be me. Complicated has become my new middle name."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he gave a small nod of agreement. "Hmm, I never thought of that, you're probably right." He paused, his eyes never leaving the spine of particularly old book on the shelf in front of him while he let out a large sigh. "I'm worried about the baby, and about my wife... The Wizarding World isn't very accepting of werewolves, as soon as everyone found out about me when I was teaching here; the parents didn't want someone like me teaching their children..."

"But will you being a werewolf affect the baby at all?"

Lupin shrugged as he turned back around to face Dawn. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Even if it is a perfectly healthy baby, my family is always going to be prejudiced against because of who I am... I don't want them to suffer."

"Just 'coz you had an unplanned run-in with a werewolf, doesn't mean you don't deserve a chance to be happy. I mean, your wife obviously loves you for who you are; otherwise she wouldn't have married you. She knew what she was getting into when she chose you, didn't she?" Lupin nodded hesitantly. "I think people who've never had to fight for anything they believe in, don't know how to appreciate what it means to live."

There was a pregnant silence; the only sound that could be heard was the faint ticking of the clock that was hanging up above the Staff Room entrance. Dawn swore she saw the faintest sign of a smile on the older man's face, and in that moment she really understood the saying 'a penny for your thoughts', wondering what was going through his head. He eventually turned his attention away from the bookcase to face her again.

"I will find Harry," Lupin said simply, breaking the silence, and Dawn knew that he meant every word.

The particularly loud sound of Dawn's stomach grumbling broke the moment and triggered her to jump up out of her seat. She stretched her arms high up above her and let out a huge yawn. "Better not starve the prophecy baby... Hey! You never know, maybe my baby and your kid will be best friends," she half-joked, walking towards the door. She did consider this a possibility, anything was possible - she didn't know what was going to happen in the future.

Lupin chuckled at this. "Oh, one more thing, Dawn," he called out, stopping her in her tracks. "Madam Pomfrey is the school healer, or nurse as you would call it... we obviously need to make sure things are progressing well by ensuring regular check-ups. If you're worried about her knowing of your pregnancy, she would keep her healer-patient confidentiality, of course, but we can make sure she is told only what she needs to know."

"That's totally fine with me, I was wondering about that stuff the other day actually," Dawn replied.

"Great, I will speak to Poppy and have some arrangements made," Lupin said finally, before Dawn thanked him and ran off to steal some food from the kitchens like her dormmates had taught her, just a few days ago.

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><p>Before Dawn knew it, they'd been at Hogwarts for just over a month, although without much success on both fronts. Lupin's endeavours to find Harry had continued to draw blanks and her sister and the gang hadn't any success either in locating the slayer they knew was somewhere in the castle. Willow and Giles had explained their difficulty as caused by all the magical energy within the castle, and had finally admitted that Willow's locating spells probably wouldn't be the way to finding the slayer. The sheer number of potential students at Hogwarts was also proving to be an issue as well.<p>

Meanwhile, Dawn would spend time with her sister when there was nothing better to do, however, in the evenings and weekends, she would find herself hanging out with people more her age. She'd found herself quite comfortable in amongst the Gryffindors, getting along well with her dormmates, Lavender and Parvati, as well as the other students around her age, Seamus, Dean, Neville and in particular, Ginny. Ever since she'd met Ginny in the bathroom, the two girls had been quick to hit it off and found themselves hanging out together when it suited the school timetable. However, they had generally steered clear of discussing what they had talked about in the bathroom that day, especially not talking about Ginny's heartbreak. Dawn decided that she would talk about it again when she was ready.

"Oh shit!" Dawn cursed one Saturday morning when she woke up and pushed back the covers.

"Is something wrong, Dawn?" Lavender called out from the other side of the dormitory, where she was currently using a spell to curl her blonde hair to perfection.

In a flash, Dawn had nervously pulled back up the covers, extremely thankful that the curtains around her bed were still drawn closed so that neither of the other girls could see her. Meanwhile, she was having a small panic attack, trying her best to not vocalise it or the other two would probably hear it and get concerned.

"N-nothing..." she stammered, trying to pull herself together. "Uh, just feel a bit of a migraine coming on," she managed to lie.

She heard a couple of footsteps approaching from over to her right and then Parvati's voice call out, "Do you need me to show you where the Hospital Wing is? Madam Pomfrey could fix that all up with a potion."

"No-no, it's not that bad – I'm kinda a hypochondriac sometimes. But might skip breakfast..." she blurted out in a panic and then paused momentarily, holding her breath until she heard the footsteps walk away again. "But, uh, on your way down, could you tell Ginny? We were gonna catch up this morning."

"Sure, we're just going down to the Great Hall now. We'll let her know if we see her."

Dawn sighed with relief as she heard the two girls leave the dorm, gossiping away about something insignificant. When she was sure that they were gone, she pushed down the covers once more and stared down at her stomach in a mix of wonder and horror. _Is this some alien baby? I'm sure I didn't have a bump last night when I went to bed!_ She thought to herself.

She had just passed her twelfth week, and was fast approaching her second trimester, so she knew that this day was coming soon, although it didn't make her any more prepared for the sight. As she nervously gazed down at her stomach, she could definitely notice a firm, but small, bump just below her belly button. Madam Pomfrey had been warning her that this was due to happen over the coming weeks, also saying that it sometimes occurred as if it happened overnight. Furthermore, her morning sickness had really subsided over the past fortnight, which she was also told as a sign that she would start putting on weight as her abdomen began to grow. She was more than happy to say goodbye to the morning sickness, although she wasn't prepared for something like this.

Still not having told anyone else about her pregnancy, and there being no sign of Lupin finding Harry yet, Dawn was concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep it all a secret for much longer, particularly now that she was starting to show. She hadn't really given it much thought either, she just kept telling herself that that was something in the future that she didn't have to worry about yet. But now the time was here, and she knew that wearing baggy clothes or wizarding robes was only going to save her hide for a short amount of time until she really started to get big. Another thing she could guarantee was that Buffy would be one of the first to notice any changes in the way she dressed, so her stress levels were beginning to rise by the minute.

All of a sudden, she was brought out of her state of alarm by a faint knock on the door, followed by the sound of it squeaking open. She was just praying that it wasn't Lavender or Parvati coming back up because they'd forgotten something.

"Dawn? It's just me," Ginny's soft voice called and Dawn let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I ran into Lavender and Parvati in the Common Room," Ginny continued as she listened to her voice get closer, having not had the courage to draw open the curtains around her bed yet. "When they told me you had a migraine, and said something about you wanting them to tell me, I figured that was a code for 'something else is up', so I thought I'd check on you..."

Dawn sat up onto her knees, with her legs tucked underneath her. "You bet something's up! I'm officially screwed, Buffy will kill me!" she cried melodramatically as she thrust open the curtains, revealing her predicament to the witch.

Ginny's eyes immediately flickered to Dawn's now visible baby bump, studying it for a minute. The fact that her attention had been drawn so quickly to the area had Dawn panicking. "Well, it's not that bad, hardly noticeable," Ginny finally said.

"Ha! It's like it just appeared overnight, I think someone's definitely gonna notice!" she exclaimed, pulling her pyjama top down in an attempt to cover her stomach, but she knew this was in vain because the change was definitely noticeable if you were looking for it. "See! And I can't keep blaming this on too much pie!"

Without a word, the redhead walked over to the wardrobe and began rummaging through it, swiftly returning back to the four-poster bed with a pile of clothes in her arms. Dawn looked down incredulously at the clothes, to see that Ginny had selected a pair of jeans with knee-high boots, a long-sleeved shirt and a baggy, but stylish, thick knitted cardigan to put over it. It was definitely going to work for the time being, but Dawn was still at a loss of what to do over the coming months. Then again, she really hoped that she still wouldn't have to be hiding her pregnancy at that point.

"There, that should do the trick, for now," Ginny began. "With less than a month before Christmas now, it's definitely cold enough that you can layer up on all your clothes and no one will even give it a second glance."

Dawn nodded but looked a little less than convinced. "I can't keep this up forever. What if I wanted to wear a nice dress for, like, Christmas Eve dinner... or New Year's?"

Ginny chewed at her thumbnail in deep thought, Dawn could see that she was trying to be the calm, logical one. "Well, we've got a few weeks, I'm sure I can think of something by then. If only Hermione were here, she'd have just the answer - she always does."

_Hermione, that name sounds familiar..._ Dawn pondered as she began to get dressed. "Who's Hermione?"

"Hermione's a good friend of mine. She's the year above me, but she hasn't come back to Hogwarts this year, if she had you would've been sharing this dormitory with her. Hermione's one of the smartest witches you'll ever meet, she always has a solution for everything." Ginny moved over to peer out the window. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, she's best friends with my older brother Ron and Harry Potter."

"Oh," was all Dawn managed as she slipped her boots on, she swore she felt the tiniest of flutters in her stomach, even at just the mention of Harry's name. She also now realised why the name sounded familiar, having heard Harry talk fondly about his best friends, Ron and Hermione, back in London.

"How do I look?" Dawn asked as she finished zipping up boots, standing up and presenting herself for scrutiny.

Ginny turned back to survey her work and threw Dawn a smiled. "Like I've saved you from your sister for one more day," Ginny quipped with a laugh.

* * *

><p>The following day Ginny was researching through a rather large pile of books, sitting in an extremely deserted library; nobody else was crazy enough to even entertain the thought of getting up so early on a Sunday morning to do homework. That is, nobody except for Luna Lovegood.<p>

"A peculiar time to be studying," Luna began in her usual dreamy tone from behind Ginny; she had a way of moving so silently that you never heard her coming. "I've never seen you in here so early on a weekend before."

Startled, Ginny let out a small yelp of surprise and nervously slammed shut the book in front of her. "Oh, hi there Luna... I was just doing some extra-curricular reading, Hermione would be proud... what are you doing here so early too?"

"I quite often come into the library at this time each week," she explained as her fingers lightly traced over the spines of the books stacked up on Ginny's desk, Ginny couldn't help but notice that the petite Ravenclaw had a random, long, blue feather tucked behind one ear that looked completely out of place but was extremely typical of Luna. "Any other time and all the people here would scare away the Scriples, they don't like crowds, you see."

Ginny had no idea what she was talking about and stared at her blankly. "What are Scriples?"

Luna had picked up one of the books from the pile and proceeded to flick through the pages. "Scriples are very tiny creatures, perfectly harmless... People often don't even notice them, and they are usually always found in libraries, but they only come out when it's quiet."

Ginny really did like Luna and considered her a friend, but sometimes she had no clue what the girl was talking about. This was one of those particular occasions, Luna's reply told her absolutely nothing but she made an effort to show she understood with a slightly fake smile and a nod. She didn't want to hurt the blonde's feelings but she knew that she probably wasn't putting in much of an effort to act interested - it was an extremely hard thing to do early on a Sunday morning.

Luna didn't seem to notice anything, she had turned her full attention over to the book she had been scanning through and was now holding the blue feather and using it to trace over various pages with the soft end of it. "You seem to be quite interested in illusion and concealment charms, is there something in particular you're trying to conceal?"

"Oh, you know, just brushing up on the usual charms – acne concealing charms..." Ginny lied, feeling pleased with her on-the-spot thinking.

Luna nodded absent-mindedly, and began randomly telling Ginny about another somewhat wacky article that had appeared in the last edition of The Quibbler as she continued to flick through the pile of books on the desk. Ginny continued to feign interest whilst resuming her search through the book in front of her.

After she'd finished her ramblings, Luna abruptly slid her chair back and stood back up. "Well, the Scriples are probably wondering where I am," she said, causing Ginny to look up at her in puzzlement. "They're quite used to my weekly visits..." she trailed off.

And like a whirlwind, she was already off skipping down the aisle and deeper down into the library. Ginny shrugged, turned her attention back down at her book and was about to resume her research, when blue fuzz caught her eye. It was peeping out from one the books that was scattered across the desk and that Luna had been looking through only a moment ago.

"Luna, you forgot your feather!" Her voice echoed down the aisle, she opened the book to release the feather and return it, but Luna was already gone.

Suddenly, the page the feather had been closed on caught her attention; staring up at her was exactly what she had been looking for. The next thing to cross her mind was if Luna done this on purpose. She glanced up again to see if there was any sign of the Ravenclaw. _That girl scares me sometimes, how'd she know?_ she thought to herself with disbelief.

Hastily, she wrote down the spell she needed and courteously returned all the books to their shelves, thinking that was bound to earn some brownie-points with Madam Pince. She quickly scrambled out of the library, eager to tell Dawn the good news, she hadn't expected to find a solution so soon and knew the older girl would be ecstatic. As she ran through the corridors, she began thinking about the spell and came to the conclusion that it would have to be safely tested before trying it on Dawn; she certainly didn't want to be responsible for any mishaps with the baby.

She reached the Gryffindor Tower, hurriedly telling the Fat Lady the password before rushing up to the Girls' Dormitories, knowing all too well that Dawn would still be in bed at quarter-to-nine on a Sunday morning. Had it have been something slightly less important, Ginny would have waited until after breakfast to share the news, especially because Dawn wasn't the best morning person and this was intensified by all the extra fatigue caused through the pregnancy.

"Dawn! Dawn, wake up," she called out excitedly as she entered the seventh-year dorm. "I figured out a solution to the problem we had." Ginny knew better than to just blurt it straight out in case the other girls were still there, fortunately when she looked around she noticed that they'd already made their way down to breakfast.

"Ugh. Buffy, I don't wanna go to school today..." Dawn croaked drowsily as Ginny drew back the curtains with far too much enthusiasm, accidentally ripping one straight down the middle.

"Bullocks," she said as she dropped what was left of the curtain. "Come on, Dawn – I just found a fantastic concealment spell in the library."

At this snippet of news, Dawn peeped an eye open in interest - she'd spent the previous day walking around the castle in a state of paranoia, despite Ginny's wardrobe efforts to hide her ever-so-slight stomach. She'd even gone to the trouble of spending most of the day hiding out in a deserted corner of the Staff Room, also ensuring she was at the meals well before anyone else so that she could be seated before anyone else had arrived. When it came to bedtime, she had waited until her roommates were well and truly asleep before she changed into her nightgown and retired for the night.

"Did you just say you've found a way for me to not act like a super-paranoid nutcase again today?" Dawn asked, looking enormously hopeful.

"I most certainly have!" Ginny declared proudly, producing the hand-written parchment from the library. "We'll have to test it out first, of course."

Dawn almost squealed in excitement and hugged the younger girl briefly and mumbled a quick expression of gratitude. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," Ginny began with a dramatic pause. "That's the best thing about magic; the possibilities are nearly endless... I was thinking we could test it on me first."

"But you're not the preggo one, there's nothing there to conceal," Dawn replied in confused.

"Well that was sort of the point; at least it'll be safer to try on me." Ginny pulled out her wand from her jeans pocket. "And I was thinking on the way up here, that all we have to do is just make it look like I'm pregnant and then try out the spell."

Ginny stepped out into the centre of the room, pointing her wand towards her stomach. "_Accresco!_"

Within seconds Ginny's stomach had inflated, reminding her of air being pumped into a balloon, suddenly she had the appearance that she was at least seven or eight months pregnant. It was a slightly strange experience to witness, and she didn't expect to be in that state for real for quite a few years to come. She felt a short moment of sympathy for Dawn before looking up at her friend.

"Whoa," was all Dawn could manage, staring down at Ginny's fake stomach for a moment before finally snapping out of her daze. "Wait a sec... are you trying to say that is what I'm gonna look like? Oh my god! I'm totally going to look like the size of a Hippygriff, or whatever that thing Hagrid showed me the other day was!"

"Hey!" Ginny tried to take offence, however couldn't help but giggle at the situation, she felt a little ridiculous. "Anyway, let's give this a go."

"Fire away," Dawn replied.

"_Absconditus Gravidum!"_ Ginny said with a swish aimed down at her inflated belly, and with shimmer it was as if she was back to normal again.

"That's awesome, Ginny!" Dawn praised as she gave the redhead an excited hug, instantly she pulled away, and glanced worriedly down at Ginny's concealed fake-stomach. "Uh... I can still feel it though."

Ginny nodded. "That's because it's just a concealment spell, it's changing the appearance to anyone looking, but unfortunately anyone who gets close to you will be able to feel it. But at this stage, if someone does feel something, they'll probably think they're imagining it... it might become a bit more of concern when you get bigger though."

Dawn sighed loudly. "And the paranoid nutcase is back!"


	8. When Things Go From Bad To Worse

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Here's the next installment. Basically, this is the last fully completed chapter I have – I've written half of the next and a lot more is in my head and needs to be written. In other words, it's going to be a lot slower in terms of posting from here, but considering how I haven't got as much of a response to this than what I thought, my enthusiasm to churn out the chapters as quickly has calmed but I will keep trying to update every now and then. Thanks to those who have reviewed though, I really appreciate it!

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><p><span>Chapter Eight – When Things Go From Bad to Worse<span>

Over the next couple of weeks, the castle had been transformed into a Christmas Wonderland - it had approached the final day of classes before the students went home for Christmas, for those of whom it was safe to do so. Dawn had spent the time avoiding physical human contact as much as possible, while Ginny had been able to successfully cast the concealment spell on her, she was completely convinced that at any time someone was going to brush an arm against or embrace her and feel her slightly rounded stomach. On various occasions, Buffy and the Gang had tried to talk or spend time with her. However, due to her extreme paranoia, she usually tried to enlighten them for a moment to avoid suspicion, but would then find an excuse to venture off to a quieter part of the castle. She just hoped that she could keep this up without anyone noticing any changes in her behaviour, although she wasn't sure how long she would have to, Lupin was still showing no sign of success in his adventures across the countryside.

Much to Dawn's distress, the avoidance tactics became near impossible when both Lupin and Giles called the group together in the Staff Room, after lunch, for a little progress meeting. She'd apprehensively arrived before anyone else and took a seat and absorbed herself in a book so that she didn't have to make a big fuss in greeting everyone as they all arrived. Buffy didn't hesitate in taking a seat next to her younger sister, on a bench that was thankfully only wide enough for the two of them.

"Hey Dawnie," she greeted; Dawn could hear a hesitation in her voice. "You haven't been hanging out with us much lately, everything okay?"

Dawn placed her book down on the table behind her and turned to look at her sister. "It's totally fine... Been caught up learning heaps about the Wizarding stuff from all the Gryffindors - made some good friends there already."

Buffy looked slightly awkward, like she making herself do something that she really didn't want to do. "Listen, I've noticed something strange over the last week or so..."

Dawn's heart began to speed up. She'd been so careful, so she wondered how the hell Buffy could know.

"Uh, you've been spending a lot of time with that Lupin guy... you're not…uh, there's nothing inappropriate going on there, right?"

It Dawn took a moment to process what Buffy was getting at. When she finally did, her sudden, and loud, laughter caused the nearby Xander and Willow to jump a mile, and she also earned looks from both Faith and Giles. "You've gotta be kidding, Buffy! That is totally the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard…. Talk about jumping to conclusions - he's old enough to be my father, and he's married!" She tried not to speak too loudly; she didn't exactly want the whole Staff Room to hear her.

Buffy blushed with mortification when she realised that she had it completely wrong, but she obviously also looked clearly relieved at the same time. "Hey, well you have been! As your sister, I had to ask!"

Dawn continued to laugh, almost unable to stop herself. That was definitely up there with one of the weirdest questions she'd ever been asked. "Talk about a vivid imagination! He's just been telling me all about the prophecy and wizarding stuff and I've been telling him a bit about our adventures back home, is all."

"What's so hilarious, Buff?" Xander had to ask, interrupting his conversation with Willow.

Dawn watched as Buffy shrank back into her seat in embarrassment and then shook her head. "You don't wanna know."

Then when Buffy wasn't looking, Dawn looked over to see Xander making eye contact with her, he mouthed at her "Tell me later", to which she sniggered and gave a swift nod. The laughter had done her some good; she noticed that she felt a lot better after her amusement had finally eased. This made her think back to the happier times back in Sunnydale before she got herself into all this mess with a pang of sadness.

Moments later, a stressed-looking Lupin appeared through the Staff Room's doors, to which Giles quickly jumped out of his seat, in order to have a quiet discussion with him before they addressed everyone else.

"What's going on, Giles?" Buffy quizzed, the two middle-aged men instantaneously stopped their hushed conversation and turned to face the group.

Giles looked over at the man beside him. "Remus...," he said to indicate that he should do the explaining.

Lupin cleared his throat. "Well, I've just got some slightly bad news from Arthur Weasley, who is a fellow member of the Order. Although up until now the only people to know about the prophecy are standing in this room, it appears this is no longer the case."

"What?!" Dawn exclaimed in alarm, she vaguely heard the rest of the group uttering similar concern, although she was so focused on her own panic to pay much attention to them. "So, what, now everyone knows about it?"

He shook his head; however this didn't seem to ease her trepidation. "No, but there are a select group of people at the Ministry of Magic, who somehow got wind of the prophecy, which is how it got back to Arthur, who also works at the Ministry."

"But does that mean that this Voldemort dude knows about it now?" Faith spoke up for the first time.

"Unfortunately, if he doesn't already know, he will." Dawn covered her face in horror as Lupin spoke – she was officially screwed! She knew the danger she was in had just officially stepped up again. "We know that he has people at the Ministry, so I would say is only a matter of time."

Buffy patted her sister on the back in an act of comfort and reassurance, however not knowing the full amount of significance the change of circumstances had to Dawn. "But what about Dawn?" she inquired. "Lupin, you said that you wizarding-folk don't know about 'the Key' and whatnot, so it's not like they're gonna know who the prophecy is about anyway... Unless someone in this room let's it slip."

Whilst the others were deep in thought, Dawn looked up and managed to catch Lupin's eye. They both shared a meaningful look, knowing all too well that because Dawn was already pregnant, things weren't going to be that easy. As soon as people found out she was pregnant, and were able to put two and two together, she could be in a lot more danger than she already was.

"That's a good point, Buffy," Giles weighed in on the conversation. "Dawn will be safe as long as no one else knows that she is 'the Key'."

For the time being, Dawn knew that both her and Lupin could only humour everyone else and nod in agreement, knowing that they would have to slip aside later to talk privately about the real situation that stood before them.

"What about Arthur Weasley, Remus?" Giles suddenly inquired. "Is he aware of your prior knowledge of the prophecy and that you kept it from the Order? Won't that cause some problems?"

Lupin quickly nodded, however looked like that was the least of his problems at that particular point in time. "I did make it known that I was already aware of the prophecy, however I didn't make it clear just how long I had known to hopefully dismiss any idea that I've discovered the identity of 'the Key'. Meanwhile, the Order has called an urgent meeting this evening, and although I am reluctant to continue lying to them, there is obviously far more at stake if I don't."

Dawn felt a wave of guilt upon hearing this, she certainly didn't want Lupin lying to his friends and colleagues because of her, but then she also didn't want the world to find out about her just yet. _Where the hell is Harry? Why can't Remus find him?_ She panicked - she felt like her secret had an expiry date, one that was fast approaching.

Breaking from her thoughts, Dawn realised that the discussion had continued on and they were now chatting about the slayer search. She sat there silently waiting for the meeting to adjourn, so that she could pull Lupin aside and make her fears known. However, just before things were looking like wrapping up, she became aware of a faint, but definitely present, fluttering in her lower abdomen. She gasped in surprise, her head snapping down to stare at her stomach. The room fell into a sudden silence, causing her to look up again to see that she had all sets of eyes on her.

"Uh," she began timidly. "... I just realised that we haven't been able to get each other Christmas presents this year."

"Don't worry, Dawnie, I don't think any of us were expecting any this year," Willow replied with a laugh, to which there were a few nods of agreement.

The interruption was quickly dismissed, the meeting continued for another few minutes, which seemed to drag on for Dawn, before everyone finally decided to finish for the day. Soon, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Faith were all wishing Lupin a 'Merry Christmas' as they left the Staff Room. Dawn had to follow them out into the Entrance Hall and down the corridor at first to avoid any suspicion if she'd lingered in the Staff Room. She then cunningly made an excuse to go her own way, before creeping back towards the Staff Room, intent on finding the werewolf. There was much to discuss.

She was about to round the corner back into the Entrance Hall, when Lupin appeared from the other direction, catching her by surprise. While she let out a yelp of surprise, he didn't look as startled to see her, and without saying anything he immediately led her back towards the Staff Room.

"Unfortunately, I have to be off in a matter of minutes and won't be back until after Christmas, so we'd better make this quick," he spoke very quietly, as they passed between the two gargoyles guarding the door to the Staff Room.

Dawn nodded. "I thought that freakin' meeting would never end," she complained as she followed him back into the dark-panelled and now-deserted room. They both craned their heads around to make sure no one was around, before she turned back to face the wizard. "Okay, first up – these Ministry and Order guys knowing. What's the deal - is everything gonna be okay?"

"As I said before, it's not the most ideal news," Lupin admitted. "But I'll do my best to handle the situation delicately, yours and the baby's safety coming first, of course. The Order members may eventually have to be told, we'll have to see how it all plays out."

Dawn had been listening intently, but halfway through Lupin's reply she was distracted when the same sensation from earlier returned. "There it is again!" she exclaimed, touching her abdomen.

Lupin looked at her curiously, before a look of understanding passed over his face. "Ah, is this what happened during the discussions?" She nodded. "Does it almost feel like butterflies in your stomach?"

She nodded again, still entranced by the foreign feeling, which was slowly dying away. "Before was the first time I've felt anything." She paused. "It's the baby moving, isn't it?"

"From my experience with my wife, yes," Lupin answered, Dawn looked back up to see him looking slightly confused. "Although, one thing I was curious about was the fact that you're not showing yet, Dora certainly was at this stage."

"Oh yeah - I forgot to tell you!" Dawn began, she was kicking herself for not telling the werewolf sooner, but they'd seen each other less and less over the past week or two and she'd always been more concerned with how his search for Harry was going. "Yeah, one of the Gryffindors found out about me - I was puking in the bathroom one day and she figured it out... She's cool with it though, she obviously doesn't know about the prophecy and she helped me with a concealing spell. So, _you betcha_ I'm showing..."

A deep frown formed on his features, Lupin was clearly concerned at this. "Dawn, you should have told me someone else knew... who was the Gryffindor?"

"Ginny Weasley." Dawn watched his concern grow into apprehension. "What's the problem?"

"That certainly makes things complicated… Dawn, you are aware of Ginny Weasley's previous relationship?" he asked carefully, the tone in his voice making Dawn more and more anxious by the minute.

She shook her head quickly, now wishing she'd been more insistent on listening to the redhead's woes. "Uh, no. She seemed pretty cut up about it and didn't really wanna talk about it much."

"She was last dating Harry, Dawn."

_Oh shit..._ was all she could process before a loud, echoing sound of an object falling over in the corner of the Staff Room frightened the pair.

Both heads whipped around, searching in the direction of the unexpected noise. Dawn's heart felt like it had stopped when she saw Giles appear out from behind a bookcase. He didn't look at all happy.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Giles had left the Staff Room a minute before Lupin had only to return just moments later to retrieve a book he'd forgotten, when he heard the two re-enter the room. He was obviously more than surprised at the conversation he'd unintentionally eavesdropped on judging from the stunned expression that was present on his face.

"Giles!" Dawn exclaimed in surprise, her voice inadvertently wavering. She wasn't prepared for something like this, what was she going to say?

"Rupert," Lupin began, keeping his voice as calm as ever, which Dawn both envied and was glad for. "I trust you heard everything then."

As this was more of a statement than a question, Giles' attention was turned straight towards Dawn, as he took half a dozen hurried footsteps towards the pair. Dawn felt her heart speed up and her mouth was so dry from the horror that she suddenly couldn't say anything to explain herself.

"Dawn! Y-you've been lying to us? And for months!" he started angrily; all Dawn could do was hang her head down in remorse, as her eyes instantly began to well with tears. "How on earth did this happen - and when?"

If she wasn't so overwhelmed and upset, she could imagine at that particular moment she would make some sort of joke to Giles' last question about knowing where babies came from, however all she managed was a jumbled and shaky, "I-I... I, uh..."

Giles' continued his furious rant. "Why didn't you think you could tell us, Dawn?" He then turned his attention towards the werewolf standing there quietly. "And what about you, Remus? How long have you know and kept this from both myself and Buffy?"

At mention of her sister, Dawn felt a whole new level of panic hit her, if that was at all possible. Giles was usually a man who played his cards close to his chest, but to see him so upset and react like this made her dread what would happen when Buffy found out about her pregnancy, and all the lies. And then randomly, her mind started to drift back towards what Lupin had revealed to her before Giles had suddenly appeared. She began to feel light-headed, and she noticed that she was having trouble focusing on the two men in front of her; their words began to sound like some far-away gabble. And then as the room started to spin, the last thing she heard was the faint sound of her name being called before it all turned to black...

* * *

><p>The next thing Dawn knew, her eyes were fluttering open and she found herself greeted by the sight of the Hospital Wing, which she'd already been to for a check-up with Madam Pomfrey. She was lying in one of the beds, screened off with a large white screen from the view of the entrance to the wing. She pushed herself up, immediately noticing the absence of the concealment spell on her body. Having had the spell on her for weeks now, she was shocked to see that her belly had grown, even in just those few weeks, and it had gotten to the point that it was quite noticeable that she was pregnant.<p>

Wondering why the spell had been removed, and also trying to piece together what she last remembered before it all went back, she swung her heavy, tired legs around to hang over the side of the bed.

"Uh, hello?" she called out, trying to get the attention of Madam Pomfrey; however an unexpected voice called back.

"Dawn, is that you?" Ginny called out, moments later her head peeped around the white screen. "Merlin, what are you doing in here? Is everything alright?"

Ginny stood there concerned, holding an armful of full potion vials, while Dawn rubbed a hand over her face. "Not sure... I think I fainted. Everything's a little hazy - just woke up here and saw someone has removed your spell."

"Probably Madam Pomfrey," Ginny replied, as a vial almost slipped out of her grasp. "Sorry, Slughorn was making me deliver these potions for him because I accidentally broke one of the shelves in his storeroom... I'll just go and pop them down."

She disappeared around the screen again, returning only moments later. Meanwhile, Dawn was thinking back to what she could recall before waking here a few minutes ago. _I've never seen Giles that angry before..._ she thought to herself. She felt the panic begin to rise again, maybe Buffy knew by now too. Then again, if Buffy knew she'd have already been breaking down the Hospital Wing doors, she quickly told herself.

"Well, I hope everything's okay with you and the baby," Ginny spoke, breaking Dawn from her thoughts.

Dawn nodded. "I think I just got a bit overwhelmed – Giles found out. He's normally so calm and he just lost it. And..." She paused, looking over to the redhead she already considered a friend, and as she made eye contact with Ginny, Lupin's words came back to her _"She was last dating Harry, Dawn"_... _It can't be true,_ an alarmed voice thought, _Giles interrupted, maybe I was hearing things._

"What's the matter?" Ginny questioned, worried by the sudden silence.

The brunette shook her head; she certainly wasn't going to say anything directly to Ginny if she wasn't sure for certain. "Nothing, doesn't matter... But hey, I just remembered something I heard the other day," she lied, thinking that she might be able to find out indirectly. "I thought I heard Parvati say you were dating Harry Potter, is that the guy you were talking about that day we met?"

Dawn noticed Ginny's lips tightened slightly as she nodded. "He's best friends with my older brother, Ron, so I've grown up with him around. As I said before – I've... I've basically loved him since I was eleven."

Dawn felt as though she'd been shot straight in the chest, although she focused all her strength on pretending to be unaffected by these words. _The Powers That Be really have it out for me! I really felt like I connected better with Ginny than any other friend I've ever had... and now I find out that I'm pregnant to her ex, who she's still in love with!_

"I, uh..." she found herself lost for words for the second time that day, just wanting so badly to be able to freeze this moment and run as far away as she could.

Madam Pomfrey chose that perfect moment to appear, Dawn was grateful that at least something was going her way, carrying a potion in her hand_._

Pomfrey looked at the redhead. "Thank you for delivering those potions, Miss Weasley, but weren't there more waiting in the Dungeons for you?"

Ginny nodded hesitantly, smiling and farewelling Dawn before leaving the Hospital Wing. Once she had left, Madam Pomfrey turned her attention towards Dawn, preparing the potion for her to ingest.

"Now you, Missy," she began, handing Dawn a beaker of the potion, which tasted quite unpleasant, so Dawn immediately downed it to get it over with. "In your condition, you have to take it easy – Mr. Lupin and Mr. Giles brought you in here unconscious. I was quick to discover that you had fainted and this was from high stress levels, so you must try to take it easy."

_Easy for you to say... my life has become a freakin' soap opera. _Dawn thought. "But everything's okay with the baby?"

Pomfrey nodded. "The potion will help you to relax, and as long as you make sure you don't put yourself or the baby under high levels of stress. It would be best if you stay here for the rest of the afternoon, and then I will let you go for dinner."

Dawn looked down at her stomach. "What about the spell? I'm guessing you removed it? I haven't exactly told many people about this, and if you wanted me to make sure I have low stress levels..."

"Yes, I will see to it that the spell is re-cast before you leave, if that is what you wish," Pomfrey paused momentarily. "However, I must recommend for the good of both of you that you shouldn't avoid what has to be done for too much longer. The later you leave telling your family and friends, the more likely that it could have a significant impact on your health, especially once you reach the third trimester."

Dawn sighed. "You're right."

"Good, everything will be alright, dear," Madam Pomfrey briefly put a sympathetic hand on Dawn's arm and then collected up the empty vial and beaker before walking back around the bed. "You should be feeling quite tired now, take the next few hours to rest up and I'll come back to let you know when it's dinnertime and you can make sure you get a good meal in you."

Once the healer had disappeared into her office, on the far side of the Hospital Wing, Dawn swung herself back into bed and curled herself up into a ball, her hand resting on her slightly rounded stomach. The tears began to cascade down her cheeks, creating a large wet patch on her pillow, as she contemplated just how difficult her life had become. Minutes later, she heard footsteps approach, her heart momentarily in her throat as she wondered who it could be, the footsteps not matching those of Madam Pomfrey's. If anyone who didn't know about her pregnancy were to walk in, they would be in for a shock and she didn't think she had the energy to deal with them right now.

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when Giles appeared at her bedside. Although, judging from his reaction earlier, she knew she definitely wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Dawn," was all he said, as he took in the sight in front of him, any anger he still held washing from him.

The tears continued for Dawn as she sat up, she tried her best to wipe them away but they persisted. Giles immediately walked over and drew the girl into a hug; she continued to sob into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his tweed jacket.

She took some time to compose herself before Giles pulled away from the embrace and pulled a chair over to sit beside the bed.

"I'm sorry too, Dawn," Giles apologised with discomfort, studying Dawn's abdomen. "Of course I was extremely disappointed to discover you had been keeping this from us, however I shouldn't have shouted like I did."

Dawn pulled the covers back up over her stomach, still not used to feeling so exposed. "I shouldn't be lying to all you guys, especially Buffy... but I'm was so scared - still am! I- I just couldn't deal with telling you all and seeing you react, well, just like you did."

Giles nodded in understanding. "But you cannot continue to keep this from Buffy... I don't believe I could carry on with the lie."

"No, Giles, please," Dawn pleaded, sitting forward. "Remus is still trying to find Harry... I need to tell him first. Can you imagine what would happen to him if Buffy found out before him? He'd be caught off-guard and he deserves to know first."

"Speaking of Harry," Giles began somewhat awkwardly, to which Dawn blushed in anticipation. "Remus said that this all happened before we knew of the prophecy – he was extremely concerned about you but was unable to wait for you to wake, by the way. Anyway, when could this have all possibly happened?"

Dawn certainly wasn't getting any more comfortable talking about this, but could imagine she would feel more at home having this conversation with Buffy, if she didn't jump straight into lecturing her or freak out on her first. "In London, Buffy and Willow were catching up with you that first night... Giles, you know me almost better than anyone else; I don't do that sort of thing, that's more a Buffy thing. But I- I can't even begin to explain what happened."

"What are you saying?" Giles questioned. "That there was another force at work?"

Dawn shrugged. "Well, yes and no. I did really like Harry... but something took over – maybe it was to do with the prophecy, I don't know."

They then both heard the sounds of Madam Pomfrey moving around the room, obscured from view by the large white screen. Considering she had told her to get some rest, Dawn knew their conversation would have to be cut short or the healer would certainly be coming over to scold her.

"We should finish this later," Giles spoke first, apparently thinking along the same lines.

"I know you don't like lying to Buffy, but it's almost Christmas," Dawn began pleading quietly, as to not draw the attention of Madam Pomfrey. "Please, just wait a few days until it's over and then I promise I won't make you have to keep this secret any longer – I'll bite the bullet and talk to Buffy, I promise."

Giles nodded, accepting this compromise without too much fuss and then bid her farewell before quickly leaving the Hospital Wing. Dawn lay back down on the bed, snuggling up in the covers, feeling quite exhausted from all the emotion involved in the last couple of hours. Before she drifted off to sleep, another problem returned to her thoughts – what was she going to say to Ginny?

* * *

><p>Christmas quickly came and went with most of Hogwarts in the holiday spirit, although Dawn had to play along with everybody, her heart truly wasn't in it this year. For one, she was dreading the conversation with her sister where she finally came clean about the baby; secondly, she was still completely undecided on what to say to her newly-found friend, Ginny.<p>

_What do you say to a fellow woman when you discover that you're pregnant to the person they love? Hey Ginny, guess what? It turns out the person we were talking about the day we met was the exact same guy, fancy that! _Dawn scoffed to herself.

In true style of recent times, Dawn decided that she couldn't face that situation right now and decided to sweep it under the rug by avoiding or shutting the redhead out. Ginny had remained at Hogwarts for Christmas, as had many others - whose parents had decided that, due to the growing number of Death Eater attacks in both the Wizarding and Muggle communities, that staying at the school was the safest option. Dawn could tell, even though she'd been avoiding her, that Ginny was particularly upset by this, clearly feeling left out by her family, but as they were all heavily busy with the Order she was forced to remain in the castle.

Dawn's luck of evading Ginny ran out one early evening, three days after Christmas, just as she was about to find Buffy to have the dreaded conversation. Instead, she found herself facing another highly dreaded conversation, as she ran into Ginny in the Gryffindor Common Room, with no time to make a hasty exit before the younger girl spotted her.

"Dawn!" Ginny called across the buzzing room, other Gryffindors talking excitedly to each other about something, but too quiet for her to hear. "Are you heading down to dinner already?"

Dawn reluctantly nodded, noticing that the baby was beginning to move again, as Ginny followed her out of the portrait hole. There was an awkward silence at first, as they began down the corridor.

"So, Dawn," Ginny began cautiously. "I can't help but notice that you seem to be trying really hard to ignore me the last few days... Tell me if I am just being ridiculous."

"Uh," Dawn replied slowly, racking her brain for an excuse. "You seemed really peeved over Christmas because your family left you here... just thought I'd give you some space."

"You didn't have to do that! If anything, having you here at Hogwarts has made that being abandoned more bearable... I'm really glad we became friends, Dawn." Ginny answered as they turned a corner and started down a staircase.

That was the worst thing Dawn could have heard at that point, the guilt of her most recent lie made breathing harder. The baby had continued to move here and there as they moved along, but then suddenly a foreign feeling that she couldn't explain struck her, bringing her to a halt. Her hands flew down to her stomach for a moment; she could somewhat hear Ginny's concerned voice in the background, although she wasn't listening to what she was saying. She was completely entranced in this new feeling, not understanding it but there was something comforting there and she knew that she had to go along with it.

She then had the urge to continuing walking, so without any faltering her legs began to move again, although now it was almost as if she was just letting them do the work, without much control on her part. Having said that, she knew she could stop at any time and bring an end to it, but there was an unexpected assurance in her head that made her continue on.

Meanwhile, she could vaguely register a second set of footsteps as Ginny followed along, still concerned and confused, but she was still so focused on the moment that she was unable to respond or explain herself. They made their way weaving down staircases, when they finally reached the last set of stairs leading down into the Entrance Hall.

As Dawn descended the final half a dozen steps, she noticed a reasonably large amount of people lingering, all talking animatedly to each other. Almost as if the people were parting for her, her eyesight was suddenly drawn towards a group of people in the centre of it all, including Remus, a bushy, brown-haired girl about her age, and a red-headed boy who looked a lot like Ginny. But the most important person to catch her eye was the jet-black messy hair and familiar emerald-green eyes of Harry Potter.


	9. When the Trio Returns To Hogwarts

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Here goes the next chapter, it's taken me a little while to get this one done, wanted to make sure I was completely happy with it and as I said in the previous chapter, I'm now up to where I'd written so it's taking a bit longer now.

I got a better response to the last chapter, so thanks to those who reviewed: Hanzo of the Salamander 2.0, Anyankaholic, mwinter1 and Catdays67! Please keep them coming everyone!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Nine – When the Trio Returns To Hogwarts<span>

Harry woke up to the sight of the bunk above him, in which Ron was still sleeping and snoring loudly, just like he had for the past five or so months. Although they had accomplished something in that time, finding and destroying the Slytherin's Locket horcrux, Harry sometimes felt like the walls of the Hermione's transfigured tent had become his own personal prison. Ever since that night, he'd felt so confused and lost, and sometimes depressed, not knowing what to make of it and it also had him questioning what to make of his and Ginny's relationship now. What was he going to do when they returned back to society and saw her again? Something certainly didn't feel right, something had changed.

Hermione and Ron had surely noticed this too. They generally didn't say anything about it, but he often saw them throwing each other looks, not knowing what had caused this change in his demeanour or what they could do about it.

There were also the dreams, generally always the same baffling dreams, which always struck him as extremely odd because the only thing he usually dreamed about was Voldemort due to his connection with the dark wizard. Curiously, these dreams didn't feature Voldemort at all.

_Harry woke up in his bed in the Gryffindor Tower, when he gazed around the room strangely not a single other bed was occupied. There was no sign of Dean, Neville, Seamus or Ron anywhere in the dorm. As he got up, continued down through the Common Room and into the outside corridor, he would find that this was the case everywhere else as well._

_He continued down the hallway in his T-shirt and flannelette pyjama pants, his bare feet on the cold stone floor. The corridor seemed like it stretched on forever; no matter how far he walked, he could never seem to reach the end. There was a sudden distorted noise in the distance ahead, causing him to tread more cautiously into the unknown. As he walked down the never-ending corridor, the noise became louder and clearer... it almost sounded like a baby crying._

Why would there be a baby at Hogwarts? _A strangely logical voice would always tell him, even though things usually weren't very logical in dreams._

_As he got closer and closer, he was startled to see an unexpected silhouette a short distance ahead, standing there as if guarding the corridor ahead. He craned his neck to try and see if he could recognise the figure ahead. Finally, as he approached near he was able to make out the features of a young woman, whom he'd never seen before, who was blonde and quite petite._

_Sensing no danger, he continued right up to woman to ask her where everyone was, when he was sent flying through the air with a swift kick from the woman and he crashed into the corridor wall nearby. He wondered how such a small woman could be so unpredictably and incredibly strong, as he pushed himself up, holding his arms up to show he came in peace._

"_Why did you kick me? I haven't done anything to you." He told her as he walked back over, flinching in anticipation for another blow, which never came._

_However, she stood there, still prepared to fight with her fists curled up into balls. "Yes you have, you have made a mess and haven't faced the consequences. If you can't, then I can't let you get away... I need to protect her." Harry noticed that she spoke with an American accent._

"_How can I face the consequences if I don't know what I've supposed to have done?" Harry reasoned, however the blonde looked impatient._

_The noise in the corridor ahead suddenly began to morph into two separate cries of real pain, the blonde's face paled with dread and she grabbed a fistful of Harry's T-shirt and pulled him in inches from her._

"_Go! She needs you – together you are much stronger!" she yelled at him, then thrusting him into the corridor ahead. "Hurry!"_

_Harry began to run, the cries piercing deep into his ears. He started to run faster and faster before he lost his footing and was sent crashing face-first onto the stone floor._

That would always be the part where he would jump up awake and in a sweat, always wondering what was at the end of the corridor, or who needed his help. Ron or Hermione might sometimes be startled awake by his sudden movement and ask him if he was okay or if it was Voldemort-related, so because the dream had nothing to do with Voldemort, he would usually tell them it was nothing.

"Harry," Hermione called from across the tent when she noticed he was awake; she was finishing up preparing breakfast for the three of them, which they usually took turns in.

Harry fumbled for his glasses, as he found a nearby jacket and swung it on over his pyjamas, the tent would sometimes struggle to stay warm in the winter chill. Hermione was usually the first person to rise in the mornings, and for that matter, Ron was usually the last; always having to be persuaded to get up by Hermione constantly shaking him awake. He sat down at the small little kitchen/dining area that Hermione had managed to conjure up in the tent.

"I know you always say it's nothing," Hermione began as she placed a plate of baked beans on toast and a glass of long-life orange juice in front of him. "But you had another bad dream again last night, I heard you tossing and turning at about 3am... Harry, is something wrong?"

Harry shrugged as he took a sip of the juice. "It really is nothing to worry about... it doesn't have anything to do with Voldemort."

Hermione frowned as she took a seat opposite him. "I know you always say it's nothing but it can't be nothing if you're having these dreams at least twice a week."

"You've been keeping track?" Harry asked, annoyed.

"It's not that hard to notice, to be honest. Something is wrong... maybe the dreams are trying to tell you something because they're so frequent?"

Harry sighed with defeat. "Well if they are, then they're going the wrong way about it. Nothing in it makes any sense anyway; especially the mysterious blonde woman that I've never seen before, who wants to beat me up, saying I have to face the consequences of something I'm supposed to have done."

"Hmm, I don't know," Hermione said honestly, propping her head up with her right arm resting on the small table and padding her fingers along her chin whilst deep in thought. "Maybe something will come along and it will all make sense, or maybe it really is nothing. But, please Harry if there is anything there that you need to talk about, please let me know. You can always talk with Ron or I, rather than bottling everything up."

* * *

><p>Later that day, as the evening approached, Harry wandered out of the tent to ponder his persistent dreams some more, only to find Ron sitting on the ground within the wards they'd created for protection.<p>

"Hey, mate," Ron greeted, as he noticed Harry's presence, his breath clearly visible in the cold evening, winter air.

Harry moved to sit next to his best friend, on a blanket Ron had laid down rather than sitting in the damp snow, with his knees propped up with his arms gently encircling them. They just stared off into the distance, where twilight was well upon and the shadows had begun to come out. Anyone who saw them at this point may have thought it an odd choice to be sitting there out amongst the snow, but when they were stuck in the tent for days at a time; they tended to get a bit of cabin fever.

"Five months, Harry," Ron began, to which Harry gave him a puzzled look. "I know I'm not the only one to think this – it's been five months and in that time we've only managed to track down and destroy one horcrux! We can't go on like this, surely we could be going about this the wrong way... or maybe we need more help."

Harry sighed, he was beginning to agree with him, especially since he had this nagging feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere else; an implication he usually got from those repetitious dreams as well.

"I know, Ron. I know," he replied. He knew his eyesight wasn't the greatest but as he looked on into the distance, he swore he could see movement in the forest ahead. "Look, can you see that ahead?"

Ron's head snapped around, he squinted into the darkness in front of them. "Yes, there's definitely something there," he said, whispering purely out of instinct, although knowing full well that the silencing spells they put up around the tent would prevent them from being heard.

Ron jumped up to stand and immediately went in and poked his head into the tent to call Hermione, who was out through the front canvas flaps in a matter of seconds, her wand at the ready. Harry had also stood up, there the three of them all stood in a line, watching the shadow intently.

Moments later, the figure was only a couple of steps away from the edge of the wards surrounding the tent, however it was just that little bit too dark to recognise who it was. The shadow crouched down finding something interesting on the ground and then produced a wand from their pocket. This made Harry, Ron and Hermione extremely worried at this point, presuming the worst – that a Death Eater was about to find them because they were generally the only wizards out looking for them, as far as they knew.

The shadow turned and then cast a spell to the right of their campsite that none of the trio recognised, but they figured it was something that may have been trying to detect the presence of magical energy or their wards. As the momentary light from the spell reflected up onto the features of the mysterious person, Harry was able to instantly recognise the face. He went to step across the wards to reveal himself, but almost as a reflex, Hermione and Ron held him back.

"It's alright," he said, shaking out of the grasp of his two friends and stepping across the invisible border. "Lupin!"

The older man jumped back, startled and clutching his chest. "Harry, it has never been so good to see you!" Lupin gave Harry a warm pat on the back. "I was beginning to think I'd never find you – where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Right here," Hermione answered, her and Ron peeking through a hole in the wards she'd created to let Lupin through.

Lupin quickly ushered Harry through the barrier so Hermione could close the hole immediately and seal up the wards again.

"How did you find us?" Harry asked, as they all walked into the tent.

"It was extremely difficult, which I must commend you all on, I have spent months trying to get word of your whereabouts, trying to find any magical traces of where you might be. I finally got word of magical activity in this area from Kingsley and when I noticed it was quite a deserted location, with no known magical occupants, I thought it might be you three."

"But we've been so careful..." Hermione trailed off, looking at the other two.

Ron looked slightly sheepish, raising his hand slightly to confess that he was the one at fault. "That might have been me... The other day I had to walk away from the campsite to find more firewood or see if there was anything to eat around here. I accidentally cut a deep gash in my hand on a large thorn, and was too far away from the tent, so I had to heal it straight away."

"_Ron_," Hermione chastised. "You shouldn't have wandered so far away without Harry or me in the first place."

"Hey," Ron answered. "So what if I was sick of eating canned food every meal?"

"Guys..." Harry interjected; he turned to Lupin, who stood there quietly. "What's so important that you've spent months tracking us down?"

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "An important matter has presented itself, although this isn't the time or place to go into the details right now. I know Dumbledore entrusted you with a very important mission, there is something that may change this."

"I don't understand, Professor," Hermione piped up. "Is this something to do with Voldemort?"

"Uh, technically yes - but there is a lot more to it. I must stress how important it is that I don't leave without the three of you, especially you Harry."

"Where are we going?" Ron asked.

"Hogwarts," both Harry and Lupin said at the exact same time, the older man's head snapped around in surprise to look at The Boy Who Lived.

Without waiting for Lupin say anything, Harry explained himself. "It's just a cryptic dream I've been having, only just realised now that it was telling me I needed to return to Hogwarts."

Lupin continued to look surprised. "Perhaps you can tell me about this dream when we get there?"

Harry nodded, looking over to see Hermione motioning at him for a private word. Harry, Ron and Hermione excused themselves from Lupin, going over to the far corner of the tent to have a whispered discussion.

"This is strange, Harry," Hermione pointed out. "First the strange dreams and now Lupin shows up and looks like there's a lot he isn't telling us... I just wonder why he's being so cryptic."

"Well, we didn't really check to see if it was him, did we?" Ron added.

"Oh my stars! You're right, Ron," Hermione said with dread, mentally kicking herself.

"No need to sound surprised that I thought of something before you did, 'Mione," Ron replied with a cheeky smile, as Harry wandered away from the huddle and approached Lupin.

He kept a tight grip on his wand that was still hidden in his jacket pocket. "In Third Year, after our first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with the Boggart, what did you say to me?"

"I told you that I wasn't going to make you face the Boggart because I thought it would take the form of Voldemort." Lupin answered quickly.

Harry visibly relaxed and pulled his hand out of his pocket, satisfied with the answer, while both Ron and Hermione let out breaths of relief.

Lupin nodded in approval. "In these dark times it is vital that you verify the identity of even people you think you know. Although, I suggest perhaps sooner next time, if I was a Death Eater I could have already called Voldemort to this location."

The trio all acknowledged with a quick nod, before Harry spoke up. "So, when do we leave?"

"Right now, if possible," Lupin replied.

* * *

><p>The four of them apparated as close to the Hogwarts' grounds as possible, Lupin had sent ahead a message with his Patronus, warning Professor McGonagall of their impending arrival; she must have got the message alright because Hagrid greeted them at the gates.<p>

"Harry!" the giant called out with excitement, giving Harry a friendly hug. "Ron, Hermione! It's so good teh see yer three."

The three conveyed back how happy they were to see both Hagrid and the castle again, as they began the walk up to the castle. Whilst on the journey up, Lupin turned to Harry but also spoke loud enough so that the other two could hear.

"Now, before we reach the castle, I must warn you," Lupin said. "We have a group of visitors at Hogwarts, who have been here for a few months now."

"Visitors? What kind of visitors, Professor?" Hermione was first to ask.

Before Lupin answered, he reminded them that he hadn't been their Professor for a number of years now to which Harry replied "Old habits die hard."

"Now I don't know if any of the three of you have heard about this, but there is the Slayer... well two slayers, plus a few extras, staying in the castle."

"Slayer," Ron replied, deep in thought. "No, I don't think I've heard of him."

"Her, actually," Hermione interjected before Lupin could respond. "A year or so ago I read a book on the Slayer, she's basically a young woman who's chosen to fight evil, particularly vampires, and she possesses extreme speed and strength... But how come there are two? I read that there's only one and the next one is called only once the first one dies."

Lupin nodded. "That's right, and that's exactly what happened, except she only died for a few minutes."

"So it still counted as 'dying' and that's why the second one was called?" Harry jumped in.

Harry's suggestion was met with another nod from Lupin, as they were just about ascended upon the castle. "However, a lot has changed since then; one of the Slayer's friends is a witch – although a slightly different form of magic from ours. Miss Rosenberg's magic dates back almost as far back as ours, however it is a strictly wandless magic."

This was met by an enthusiastic "fascinating!" from Hermione, to which Lupin promised he would tell her more about it later and even introduce her to Willow.

"So why exactly are the Slayers here?" Ron questioned before they entered through the large double doors into the Entrance Hall.

"Due to a powerful spell Miss Rosenberg was able to cast, any women who had the potential of being called as the next slayer have all been activated without the current slayers having to die, as it usually would have been. They believe a slayer may be here at Hogwarts."

"So there could be someone who's a witch _and_ a slayer," Hermione said in amazement, as they entered through the doors. "That surely is a force to be reckoned with."

Lupin chose this moment to quietly pull Harry to the back of the group, realising that he didn't have as much time to cover everything as he thought, and thought Harry deserved to know a little more before the circus began. As it was, because it was so close to dinnertime there was a bit of foot traffic through the Entrance Hall, so Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan had already noticed the arrival of Hermione and Ron. They all greeted each other excitedly; meanwhile Harry and Lupin's presence hanging back at the entrance had gone relatively unnoticed at this point.

"Harry," Lupin said urgently in a low voice, Harry lent in closer to listen. "I'm sorry I haven't had an appropriate chance to completely fill you in, but there is another reason I have been trying to find you... due a few forces at work, there has been another prophecy told involving you."

"Another prophecy!" Harry whispered in a harsh voice. "When is all this going to end? Isn't one prophecy screwing up my life enough?"

"I know, Harry. And it will take some time to explain, therefore it's best you read it for yourself," he thrust a folded up piece of parchment in Harry's hand. "For the safety of the others involved, make sure you only tell those you can really trust and-"

"Harry!" Dean called out, finally having noticed his presence that was previously partially obscured by Hagrid's large frame, who was deep in conversation with Hermione.

Harry didn't have time to really think about what was on the piece of parchment, however his mind was briefly intrigued by what Lupin meant by 'for the safety of the others involved'. He shoved the prophecy in his pocket before going over to greet his fellow Gryffindors, however the audience was growing incredibly fast, especially when one Hufflepuff yelled out "Look Harry Potter is back!".

After talking for a few moments with all the people they hadn't seen in quite some time, movement from over on the stairs suddenly drew Harry's attention. He first noticed Ginny standing on the stairs; however his eyes were quickly drawn to the familiar face standing next to her.

"D-Dawn?" he said in disbelief when their eyes connected, as if this was the last place he ever expected to see her, and that was generally true.

"Hi Harry," she replied loud enough to carry over all the noise, Harry's face had become ever-so-slightly flushed as they both took steps towards each other, people parting for them to do so.

Harry was still trying to figure out why Dawn, the girl he thought was a muggle, was here at Hogwarts. "You're... you're not a witch, are you?"

Dawn shook her head. "Nope, but my sister's a Slayer," she paused nervously for a moment. "So I'm no stranger to the weird and wacky."

"I, uh," he began but stopped; there was so much he wanted to say, but he suddenly felt quite aware of all the prying, curious eyes on him.

"Harry, how do you two know each other?" Hermione stepped forward and asked.

Both teenagers simultaneously cleared their throats awkwardly, Harry's eyes wandered over to look at the staircase just in time to see a ponytail of red hair fleeing the scene. It only reminded that he would probably have to go find her later on; there was a lot to discuss with Ginny. He thought he had told himself that even though they were broken up and he didn't really have to explain himself, he was going to be honest with Ginny with what happened after Bill and Fleur's wedding. But now with Dawn standing in front of him, he wasn't so sure, especially since Dawn and Ginny had come down the stairs together and obviously knew each other.

Whilst he was having the mini debate in his head, he heard Dawn answer Hermione. "Uh, we met in London one day. Didn't know Harry was a wizard at the time, though, or even what Hogwarts was, this is all still very new to me."

"Well, I'm Hermione," Hermione introduced and then pointed to the redhead standing next to her. "And this is Ron."

Dawn briefly smiled, but Harry noticed that Dawn was fidgeting and tapping her foot, looking like she was nervously anticipating something, and he watched her anxiously look around at the large amount of people gathered in the hall.

She went to say something a couple of times but failed, before finally leaning in for a hug and whispering in his ear, her breath sending slight, involuntary tingles down his body. "We really need to talk, alone."

A few things struck Harry all in that moment as Dawn pulled away; firstly, he felt something unusual, almost rounded, press against his body in the brief embrace, which confused him because everything looked normal when he looked at Dawn. _No, it couldn't be,_ he thought to himself, quickly dismissing the fleeting idea he had. Secondly, as soon as they made physical contact, the dreams that he'd been having so frequently came back to mind and right then something told him that this was where he needed to be.

Feeling like he was stuck in a catatonic state for a moment, it was only when Ron put a hand on his shoulder then did he snap out of it. "Hey Harry, after months of eating tinned food or whatever we could salvage, I think we all deserve a meal in the Great Hall, don't you think?"

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked with narrow eyes when he was slow to answer.

He nodded absent-mindedly, looking around amongst the people who had began to move along to the Great Hall and noticing Dawn had wandered over to Lupin, who was still standing over by the front entrance. He watched as Dawn pulled Lupin into a warm hug, obviously unexpected by Lupin judging by the look on his face, although he soon returned it, however briefly. She then wandered back past them and up the staircase again, glancing over her shoulder at Harry, hinting him to follow.

"Well, are you coming, mate?" Ron asked, now from over the other side of the Entrance Hall.

"As much as I'd like to, um, there's just a few things I have to take care of first," he replied.

He noticed Ron's surprised, if not slightly perplexed, expression as Hermione pulled him away, also hearing "how can he turn down all this food after the last five months?" from Ron, as they walked through to the Great Hall.

Just before he ascended the stairs in pursuit of Dawn, Lupin walked past him with a quick pat on the back. "Good luck."

At hearing this, Harry's breathing and heart speed up, already somewhat dreading the conversation he was about to have. He kept telling himself that he was just imagining things before during the hug, and that Dawn could easily just want to talk to him about what happened back at the hotel that night. He took a deep breath and headed for the staircase.

* * *

><p><em>A few minutes earlier<em>

Faith and Giles, who had been in the Staff Room putting Faith through a training session to keep her fitness up, were making their way to the Great Hall for dinner, when they were surprised to find a rather decent gathering of people in the Entrance Hall, just as they walked out past the two gargoyles outside the door.

"What's going on?" Faith turned to ask Giles as they stopped, standing to the back of the crowd. The slayer tried to crane her neck around to see past the people in front of her.

Giles shrugged, also struggling to peer over the various heads, even with his slight height advantage over the brunette. "I'm not entirely sure."

"Look Harry Potter is back!" they heard a random voice call out.

This was all the motivation Faith needed and she managed to manoeuvre them so that they could see through the crowd, to see Lupin standing a few metres behind a group of teenagers, who were drawing the all the attention. The boy with the dark, scruffy hair and glasses was drawing the most attention, in particular.

"Is that the Harry Potter dude from the prophecy?" Faith asked quietly.

"It appears so," Giles answered, as he watched with interest when Dawn suddenly appeared from the staircase and greeted Harry.

Giles said nothing when this occurred; although they couldn't hear much he had a pretty good idea on what was generally being said at this stage, that Harry would be quite surprised to see Dawn. Faith also watched the exchange with extreme interest, surprised that the two teens seemed to know each other, and then she noticed the blushes form when the brunette with Harry had appeared to ask them a both question. Then it was as if a light bulb came on in Faith's head.

"They've totally already done the dirty deed!" Faith exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly when the people in front of them turned around, wondering what on earth she was talking about. "Hey, mind your own business, buck teeth!"

The inquisitive students quickly re-directed their attention away from the intimidating slayer, as Faith turned to see Giles' reaction, only to see him try to keep a neutral face. "She's already knocked up, isn't she? Come on - you'd be a shit poker player, G-man."

"Oh dear, I see spending time with Xander in South America has rubbed off you," Giles pointed out. "And don't call me G-man."

Faith quickly waved it off, knowing full well that wasn't going to happen. "Don't change the subject. I can see it in your face, Giles – I'm right and you know it!"

Giles sighed; looking around nervously to make sure no one else was listening to them. "Shh, yes, you're right. This is clearly not the place to discuss it, but yes, it's all true."

"Whoa, who woulda thought... innocent little D," Faith said in disbelief with a shake of her head. "Just wait 'til B finds out..."


	10. When They Have 'The Talk'

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: I've gone over this chapter again and again, tweaking it here and there. It's gotten to the point where I think I'll just post it and if there's anything else I need to edit, I'm sure I can still do it later. In reward for your patience, it's the longest chapter yet, but then again there was a lot to be covered in this chapter and I came up with the idea of introducing a little bit of Neville in this chapter, Neville is awesome!

Thanks for **Makindeor** for the only review of the last chapter – Yeah, I wanted to keep things in suspense about what was happening with Harry for a while, I suppose to put the reader in Dawn's shoes for a while, because she was definitely wondering when she was going to see him and if he'd thought about what happened at all.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Ten – When They Have 'The Talk'<span>

Neville Longbottom was running late for dinner. He'd been working hard on finishing the Transfiguration essay that was already overdue, which Professor McGonagall was none too pleased about and had warned him that they would lose house points or he would have detention if he didn't have it finished before tomorrow's class. The Gryffindor Common Room was now deserted, everyone had gone down to the Great Hall already, leaving him in a frantic rush to get this essay finished and on McGonagall's desk by the end of the evening.

He sat in the corner of the room on the couch in front of the fireplace, books arbitrarily spread across both the couch and the table in front of him, as well as the one he was currently reading from laid across his lap. In mid-sentence, he heard movement by the portrait hole and looked up, seeing Ginny Weasley appear in the room, and he immediately noticed that she was quite visibly upset.

As she walked across the Common Room, she looked over and noticed Neville for the first time, pausing with unease because she obviously was expecting everyone to be down at dinner by now. Her eyes were red-rimmed and there was a look of such dejection on her features.

"Ginny," Neville began, pushing the book off his lap and standing up. "Is everything alright?"

She hesitated for a moment, and then finally managed in a weak voice. "Harry, Ron and Hermione are back."

"Really?" Neville asked with surprise, thinking that this was great news but then was even more confused as to Ginny's current emotional state. "I thought you'd be much happier to see your brother, and Harry, for that matter."

Her eyes glistened with tears, and Neville took a few unsure steps towards her. "I... I just hate it when you think someone is a friend and then, then..."

The tears that were threatening to start again had well and truly resumed by this point. Neville stood there awkwardly for a moment, before deciding to approach the distraught girl and put a nervous arm around her in an attempt to comfort. He pulled away after a moment, went over to couches and cleared them of all his text books, then led her to sit down.

_If Ron, Harry and Hermione are back, then why is she so upset?_ Neville thought, as he sat there quietly, giving her the opportunity to speak up if she wanted to.

After a few moments, when Ginny's tears settled slightly, Neville gave her a handkerchief. "Did they get back just now?"

Ginny sniffed and nodded from behind the handkerchief.

Neville noticed that the redhead looked like she was about to say something, but thought twice before she began, so he thought he'd give her some encouragement. "Well...if you feel like talking... you can always tell me all about it."

Ginny gave a brief, appreciative smile, before the solemn look returned. "I don't even know where to start," she said pausing, as if considering whether or not she should tell him.

Neville simply shrugged. "You don't have to tell me anything if you'd like, I just thought if it'll make you feel better..."

Ginny knew how trustworthy Neville was to his friends, and she really did feel like she needed someone to talk to about everything, so she began to spill on everything that had been happening the past few months. "Well... you know how I've become good friends with Dawn..."

* * *

><p>After a somewhat awkward walk up through the castle attempting to make small talk, both teens avoiding the topic of conversation they were anxious of discussing, Harry led Dawn up to the Astronomy Tower to have a conversation away from the hustle and bustle of downstairs. Dawn looked around in amazement when they entered the tower, walking to the outside curving edge of the tower and taking in the amazing views.<p>

"Wow, I haven't been up here before, Hagrid should add this to his guided tour - it's beautiful!" she exclaimed as she peered over the edge and down towards the front of the castle, which was covered with a beautiful blanket of white snow, and then to the night sky that was clear with the stars sparkling up above.

Harry nodded pensively from behind. "Yes, it's a great place to just come and ponder things."

"And for other activities, I'm sure," Dawn said before she could stop herself, quickly turning red as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Harry said nothing, a flush also creeping up his cheeks.

Dawn turned and leant against the stonework battlements. "Harry..." she paused nervously. "I can tell that we've both being doing our best to avoid being the first to bring it up. But I just wanted to say... about that night," she pulled out a familiar piece of parchment from her pocket.

"You kept the note?" Harry interrupted in surprise.

Dawn nodded. "Yep, I just always carried it with me but I think that is because I wanted you to know I was sorry too... I'm, I-I'd never done anything like that before, that's more my sister's thing. But as soon as we kissed, something-"

"Took over?" Harry interjected, to which Dawn nodded and then he seemed like a weight was lifted off his chest. "I'm so glad it wasn't just me... I didn't want you to think that I took advantage of you or anything, after we'd done all that talking, I-I did really like you, Dawn," he finished quietly, gazing over in the distance.

"Well, you might not like me after this," Dawn had muttered to herself, but considering how quiet it was in the tower, Harry had heard her and frowned slightly.

All of a sudden, Dawn realised how cold it was and moved out of the cold air and back to stand with Harry, definitely not being suitably rugged up to stand outside in the bitter winter weather for too long.

"Listen, Harry," she said shyly, trying to muster up some courage. "This is probably gonna be one of the hardest conversations I'm ever gonna have, although it's probably gonna to be just as hard when I have to talk to Buffy - that's my sister, by the way. Anyway, I knew that this was gonna happen at some point, but I'm freaking out now that I'm actually here... Sorry, I'm procrastinating - I babble when I'm nervous."

Harry smiled at her, albeit it a little confused by her long monologue. "It's okay, Dawn. Take your time."

"Oh god," she said quietly, just as she thought she was about to start hyperventilating.

"Maybe I'll just show you... obviously I'm not a witch, so I need you to remove a spell that's cast on me – it was a concealment spell, I think." She tried to remember what Ginny had used. "Uh, something like _Abscondo Grividum..._"

Harry frowned, wondering who and why someone would have cast a spell on Dawn. "Sounds like it could be _Absconditus Gravidum."_

Dawn nodded quickly. "Yes, that sounds about right."

"Alright, stand still for a moment," Harry ordered, retrieving his wand and moving to stand a few steps away. "_Purgo incantamentum_!"

The sparks from his wand shot out and whizzed around Dawn for a moment, like a mini-tornado. When the spell was finished, Harry was quick to notice a slightly different Dawn standing in front of him, his eyes immediately being drawn towards a noticeable bump on her stomach.

Now that he was able to see her properly, Dawn was able to find the words she'd been struggling with. "Uh, I'm pregnant..."

The words seemed to hang in the sudden silence. Although Harry thought he'd noticed something down in the Entrance Hall earlier, he hadn't even really considered what he was now seeing to be a real possibility; but now he felt like he'd been hit with a Petrificus Totalus spell as he looked at Dawn. He was sure he probably looked quite shell-shocked from Dawn's perspective, and then his head began to spin slightly and he found himself fumbling towards the nearest bench against the internal tower wall. He almost expected, and hoped, for this to be another one of those crazy dreams.

Seeing Harry in his silent state of shock, Dawn felt it necessary to fill the void of silence. "Please don't freak out on me! I mean, I know you wanna - _believe me_, I know how you're feeling right now."

Harry looked up at her, his face as white as a ghost, attempting to talk a couple of times before he managed two weak words. "H-how long?"

"How long have I known?" Dawn asked but didn't expect Harry was able to answer so she continued on, as she sat down next to him. "Well, it's been just over five months since we... and I've known for about three or four... I only realised when Remus rocked up on our doorstep one day and then overheard him going on about this prophecy..."

Dawn didn't get to finish what she was saying; she stopped when Harry looked like he remembered something and reached in his pocket to pull out a piece of parchment.

"What's that?" she asked him.

He started to unfold it. "Lupin... gave me this prophecy before... I-I haven't read it."

"Oh," Dawn answered, subconsciously putting her hand on her stomach. Harry noticed this out of the corner of his eye, sending him into another spiral of panic, seeing this somehow made it all the more real. "You'll wanna read that."

Dawn just silently watched his expressions as he finally read through the prophecy, feeling sorry for Harry that he was only finding out about all of this now and it was being dumped on him in one big hit. _The same thing kinda happened to you, though,_ a voice told her.

In the meantime, a whole range of emotions hit Harry as he read the parchment; fear, dread, anger, regret were just a few of them. He never knew he could feel so many emotions at once, the whole experience just made him feel like he was going to explode if anyone were to drop any more news on him, no matter how insignificant.

Once he was finished, he scrunched up the parchment into a ball and threw it across the tower in frustration and brought his hands up to cover his face. "W-who else knows?"

Dawn had been expecting the next question to have something to do with why she was called 'the Key' in the prophecy, however when he didn't ask about, she assumed it was because there were a million questions in the forefront of his mind right about now. She told herself she would have to explain her background to him sometime later on, hoping desperately that that wouldn't push him over the edge.

"Remus knows, of course. When he found out that I was the other one in the prophecy, he kept an eye on me for protection and followed me when I snuck away from my sister to find out if I was pregnant for sure. I told him I didn't want anyone else to know, especially until I could tell you, and so he's really been pulling out all the stops to find you these past couple of months... Oh, and then Giles accidentally found out a week ago," Dawn noticed Harry's blank look. "You'll probably meet him later, he's kinda like a father figure, used to be my sister's Watcher... but I'll go into all that later."

Harry felt himself nodding, unsure of what else to do or say. He then watched as Dawn's face twisted into one of horror, something she had forgotten had suddenly come to mind. Now it was Dawn's turn to freak out, and she jumped up from the seat and brought her hands up to her face in anguish. "Oh my god, I totally forgot about Ginny! What am I gonna say to her?"

"G-Ginny k-knows?" Harry spluttered out with wide eyes.

Dawn's eyes began to water as she paced the one spot so much that Harry thought she just might wear the stone floor down. "I'm a horrible, horrible person, Harry! Ginny was becoming my friend and I lied to her, I-I couldn't deal with the truth. Instead of facing anything, all I've done is just lie and lie and then run away from it... I'm just hurting all the people I care about – I could see how hurt Giles was when he found out... I-"

Just as the tears were beginning to fall, Harry had finally broken out of his trance and stood up to grab her by both arms, stopping her from pacing. "I understand exactly where you're coming from. Don't torture yourself about it, Dawn, it really doesn't get you anywhere – I know, I've done plenty of it, especially these last few months," Dawn frowned slightly. "... What happened with Ginny?"

He could see her slump slightly at this question, as she sighed, wiped her cheeks and moved to sit down again. "We became friends after she found me puking my guts out one day – remind me to blame you for all of that when the time is right," she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Anyway, she found out why I was throwing up and she was really nice about everything but I didn't know about you guys until a few days ago, I swear."

"But you didn't tell her I'm-," he paused momentarily, rethinking his choice of words to something he was ready to say. "Tell her it was me."

Dawn shook her head hesitantly, feeling another round of tears coming on. "No, but I've had a few opportunities and she had the right to know," she took a deep breath, finding the courage to make eye contact with him. "She said she still loves you... and I just couldn't tell her, I knew she would hate me. But I've made it worse though, she probably hates me more now – she saw us down in Entrance Hall and how we knew each other; she would've put it all together."

Harry had sighed loudly and then silently turned to look at the sky, so Dawn couldn't make out his features or read his current emotions. A voice in the back of her head wondered if he was thinking about Ginny at that particular moment in time. When he stood there for several moments without saying anything, she finally stood up and backing up towards the staircase.

"You know what?" she said quietly, taking backwards steps. "I've overloaded you with too much for one evening, I-I'm gonna go."

Harry had turned to reply but by the time he had, Dawn had already disappeared down the stairs. He looked back up the at the different constellations, he'd had so many feelings rushing through him in such a short amount of time that he was almost starting to feel numb by it all.

* * *

><p>Dawn was already in tears again as she made her way down the winding staircase, whilst feeling like a weight had lifted of her somewhat, she felt like the weight had already been replaced by new fears and emotions.<p>

_What was I thinking? _she mentally scolded herself. _That it would instantly be happy families when I told him?_

Maybe part of her did actually believe that things would just work themselves out easily, but now she definitely wasn't fooled by any stupid delusions. She saw the way Harry had reacted, particularly when she told him about what happened with Ginny, he'd managed to find the words alright when she was brought up in the conversation. _He's probably still in love with her, too. You're just a floozy he slept with and now there's a stupid prophecy and baby involved. You're just in the way._

And when Harry was telling her to stop beating herself up and had said 'I've done plenty of it, especially these last few months', Dawn wondered what he meant by that. Did that mean that he'd spent all this time regretting what had happened back at the hotel that night? All these conflicting thoughts and emotions just made her want to run away from everything and she seriously started considering what might happen if she secretly left Hogwarts and disappeared - would Voldemort find out everything, track her down and kill both her and the baby?

She only got as far as the bottom of the stairs leading back up to the Astronomy Tower when she realised a little problem she hadn't thought of when she'd fled moments earlier - the concealing spell, she had her stomach on display for everyone to see. She stopped in the corridor and stomped her foot in frustration, debating for a second on whether she could just turn back around. But true to her recent form, she decided she couldn't face Harry again tonight and so that wasn't an option right now.

She looked down at her stomach for a moment, placing a hand gently over it. "If we get through all of this, I am going to make sure when you're older just how much trouble you've put me through."

Although this could have been said in a nasty way, she actually said this with a hint of affection, starting to feel a strange connection forming with the infant developing in her womb. A few months back, she wouldn't have really been able to imagine it happening but now she realised it was only a matter of time before it happened. Of course, it was easier to feel the connection when she didn't have the spell concealing it all day, every day.

She then felt that same sensation in her abdomen that she'd felt earlier that evening, it got her attention instantly because it was distinctly different from when the baby moved; it was more like a tingling sensation. She watched in bafflement as a soft glow appeared, almost as if coming from inside her stomach, and then she noticed that it suddenly it looked as though she had the concealing spell disguising her abdomen again. There was no sign of her baby bump, although she could still feel it there.

She stumbled back against the corridor wall for support, just starting down at her torso in complete amazement. _Did the baby just do magic from inside the womb! What the hell have I got myself into…_

Even though the prophecy described that the child they created would be powerful, it now began to dawn on her just what she was in for. First, she was pretty sure the baby had led her earlier that evening down towards the Entrance Hall where Harry was, and now it had somehow re-cast the concealing spell from inside the womb.

Dawn felt drained by all of it, standing there with a hand on her stomach for several moments before she pushed herself off the wall and continued down the corridor, just longing to fall into bed and sleep for days.

* * *

><p>The alarm that Neville had felt earlier had probably increased two-fold, he'd spent quite some time just comforting or listening to Ginny until she eventually made her way up to her dormitory, with a defeated look on her face. Whilst he wanted take the time to contemplate the revelations Ginny had revealed to him in her distressed state, this now meant that he was even further behind time on his Transfigurations essay.<p>

He had only managed a couple more inches writing on his parchment when the Portrait Hole opened up once more. However, this time the brunette American, who he'd gotten to know a little bit over the past couple of months, came through and like her predecessor, she too looked quite upset. Having talked with Ginny, Neville had a pretty good idea at why she was upset but felt it wasn't really his place to bring it up.

"Hiya, Dawn," Neville greeted quietly. "Are you, are you alright?"

"Oh... Hi, Neville!" Dawn answered with a fake cheeriness when she noticed him. "... I thought everyone was down at dinner."

He pointed to his essay on the table with an awkward smile. "Just finishing this before McGonagall kills me..."

Dawn wrapped her arms around herself, shifting on her feet. "I was just headed upstairs – been really tired today," she paused. "Listen, if anyone happens comes looking for me... would it be possible for you to tell them that I'm not feeling well and to wait until morning?"

"Of course," Neville replied with a sympathetic smile, not unnoticed by Dawn.

"Thanks," she muttered and headed for the stairs.

"Dawn," Neville called, so she momentarily turned back around. "You'll be o- I mean, I hope you feel better tomorrow."

Dawn's eyes widened slightly, thinking there was something there in his tone and something knowing in his eyes, however she quickly shook the thought away and threw in another fake-smile before racing up to the dormitories.

Meanwhile, Neville sat there thoughtfully for a moment, remembering back to what Ginny had said earlier. He knew Ginny generally was a straight-to-the-point, honest person, and she'd said that she was so upset because she'd known for a while that Dawn was pregnant, but only just realised downstairs that Harry was the father, and that Dawn had kept this from her. But due to the absurdity of this, he'd it laughed off at first, thinking that Ginny was trying to pull a very elaborate joke. He definitely had his valid reasons for thinking this; Dawn had been at Hogwarts a few months and Harry had been away with Ron and Hermione, so he didn't see how they could have met at all for this to happen.

He soon realised that Ginny wasn't trying to take a leaf out of Fred and George's book and sat there awkwardly, just listening, because he certainly had no idea what else to do in this situation. Any lingering doubts about if what Ginny had told him was true had vanished the second he'd seen Dawn come into the Common Room looking so troubled.

Neville shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind and try to refocus on the task at hand; he really needed to finish this essay! However, when he picked up his book again and tried, he felt like he'd read the same line about fifteen times. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a stress headache coming on. He resigned himself to the fact that this wasn't exactly going to be his best work anyway, so he decided that he would just get quill to parchment and churn out this essay, even if it was a load of dragon dung.

He was only another two-and-a-half inches away from reaching McGonagall's assigned parchment length, when he was interrupted for a third time in one evening. Unlike the previous two times, however, he felt like he was really on a roll with this essay so he didn't look up to see who it was, plus he knew that dinner would be over by now and assumed it would just be the Gryffindors returning to the Common Room.

He heard a single set of footsteps travel across the room and in his peripheral vision he noticed someone with a very familiar head of jet-black hair, causing him to tear his attention away from his essay to greet his friend, whom he hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Harry!" he called out, jumping up from his seat.

Harry looked dazed, as if he'd brought him out of daydream, turning to look at Neville with a look in his eyes that made him think that he was still kind of in a stupor, like part of him was absent. "Uh. Hello, Neville... good to see you."

Neville was about to strike up a conversation with his former dormmate, when without any word Harry turned and continued up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Normally Neville would probably be offended by being disregarded by a friend, especially one that he hadn't seen in a while; however the news Ginny had shared with him jumped back into his head.

_Poor bugger_, Neville thought as he watched him go.

If he paid someone a hundred Galleons to listen to the story of what he had witnessed in the space of just an hour or two, they probably would have told him that he belonged in St. Mungos with his parents. He could see the humour in the situation too, if he'd finished his essay on time, he wouldn't have been here to witness everything. As he stared over at the staircase, he heard people appear behind him, talking and laughing.

When he swung around he was greeted by the other two friends he hadn't seen since the end of Sixth Year. "Ron, Hermione! It's so good to see you; I was beginning to think I'd never see happy people again..."

Ron and Hermione, who'd been smiling when they first saw him, looked at each other with confusion. Shrugging, Ron gave him a pat on the back as if to say 'great to see you, mate'.

Hermione gave him a hug. "Hello Neville. You weren't down at the Great Hall with everyone else... well almost everyone else, neither Harry nor Ginny were down at dinner either."

"Just finishing a Transfiguration essay before McGonagall has my head," Neville answered a little too quickly, not going unnoticed by Hermione, as pointing towards his study area. "How's life been away from Hogwarts?"

"Well actually, I really missed those long study sessions in the library," Hermione said with a warm-hearted smile. "...Wait a minute - did Harry or Ginny come through here while everyone was at dinner?"

Neville nodded tentatively, whilst Ron thought deep about something before speaking up. "Didn't you say before that you never thought you'd see happy people again? Were you talking about Harry or Ginny?"

Neville fidgeted nervously, nearly feeling like he was being interrogated but he knew that what Ginny had shared with him wasn't his secret to tell. "Everyone who has come through here tonight during dinner has seemed a little down, that's all I meant."

Ron and Hermione shared another look. "We should go check on them," Ron suggested to Hermione and then gave Neville another friendly pat on the back. "Well, we better let you finish that essay and we'll have to catch up properly tomorrow."

Neville smiled as he watched Ron go up the staircase to the boys' dormitories and Hermione up the girls' staircase, no doubt to find Harry and Ginny. Once they were out of sight, he walked over to a nearby empty couch and practically collapsed on his back with his arms stretched out at his sides. _That's it,_ he thought to himself with mental exhaustion. _I am never having a late essay again._

* * *

><p>When Ron entered the seventh year's dormitory, he took a moment to appreciate how good it felt to be back and noticed that Hagrid had made sure what belongings they had with them had been brought up to their old dormitories. He then heard movement coming from over on Harry's old bed, where the curtains were haphazardly drawn.<p>

"Harry, is that you over there?" Ron called out.

He heard a sharp intake of breath. "I'm not really in the mood to talk right now, Ron. I wouldn't mind being left alone for a while."

Hearing the seriousness in his best friend's voice didn't make him turn away, if anything it made him more concerned and so he took the steps over towards the bed, until he could see Harry. He was sitting up against the wall at the top of his bed with knees bent up and his hands up and covering his face.

"Harry... what's wrong?" he asked; he would have said he looked as though his parents had just died, but realised that would definitely be a poor choice of analogies.

Harry threw down his arms in frustration, revealing two very blood-shot eyes. "Listen, Ron. I wasn't kidding; can you please just leave me the bloody hell alone for a while?"

Ron was extremely alarmed, wondering what had happened to bring on this sudden dramatic change in his friend's behaviour.

He put up his hands defensively. "Okay, okay... just trying to be a good friend."

Ron thought he heard Harry mumble "Well a good friend would have gone the first time."

He shook his head angrily, thinking that he didn't deserve to be snapped at when all he was trying to do is see if Harry was alright.

"Fine, have it your way," he said storming out of the dorm and slamming the door behind him. He almost bowled over Hermione in the hallway outside, grabbing her shoulders to steady her.

"Whoa, what's going on?" she asked in a hushed voice, nodding towards the door. "Harry didn't want to talk?"

Ron shook his head, anger still radiating off him, as he began to lead her down the hallway. "That would be the understatement of the year... I've never seen Harry like that before; he was in an even fouler mood than when Sirius died. Thought he might actually hex me if I stayed in there any longer... I was just trying to help!"

They got down to the Common Room, in the past ten minutes it had already really filled up with Gryffindors, so Hermione led Ron out through the Portrait Hole in an attempt to gain some privacy.

"How was Ginny?" Ron inquired once they were safely in the outside corridor.

"She was asleep... well at least pretending to be, she obviously didn't want to talk either," Hermione answered, pausing in thought for a moment. "Something is seriously wrong here, Ron. First, Lupin shows up so adamant that we return here to Hogwarts and now there is something really wrong with both Ginny and Harry."

Ron shrugged. "They may not even be connected, Hermione. I mean, I know Ginny was pretty shattered about the break-up, maybe the two of them had a spat."

Hermione was quick to shake her head. "No, I don't think it's that... I actually think it has something to do with that American girl, Dawn."

"The one from the Entrance Hall earlier? What made you come to that conclusion?" Ron asked sceptically with raised eyebrows.

"Well, I saw the way Harry reac-" Hermione began but was cut off by Lupin walking hurriedly towards them.

"Ron, Hermione," Lupin called out, only then did they notice that he had another man trailing him. "This is Mr. Rupert Giles, who's visiting here with the slayers."

Ron and Hermione both smiled and muttered "Nice to meet you", before Lupin quickly interjected, looking like there wasn't much time for pleasantries. "Have either of you seen Harry recently?"

"Or Dawn for that matter," the older man, they'd just been introduced to also added.

Ron and Hermione briefly shared a look, Hermione looked at him as if to say 'See, I was onto something!'.

"Actually, Ron and I were just discussing how Harry has been acting strangely; Ron was just telling me that Harry has shut himself up in the seventh years' dormitory...We're extremely concerned," Hermione answered.

At hearing this, Lupin had already taken a few steps towards the Fat Lady's portrait. "Just give him some time; Harry is just adjusting to some rather important news and I'm sure he will discuss it with both of you when he's had time to digest it properly. However, being aware of the current situation, I will try my best to see if I can talk to him."

Ron noticed that Hermione was about to open her mouth to ask a question, in fact he was sure she had a million questions, as did he, however Lupin beat her to the punch.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Lupin said. "I will have to discuss this further with you later on."

Hermione looked slightly frustrated, as Lupin recited the password for the Fat Lady, opening up the Portrait Hole. As he went to enter through, Hermione noticed that Rupert Giles was still lingering back, not sure of whether to follow his companion.

"Oh," Hermione added. "I saw Dawn up there in the girls' dormitories only a few minutes ago."

"Thank you," he said quickly, before following Lupin into the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

><p>Harry heard a knock on the dormitory door, wondering who it could be but really hoped that they would just turn around and go away. He knew it wasn't Ron, who he was quite sure wasn't very happy with the treatment he'd given him before, and as soon as the redhead had left in a huff, Harry began to feel guilty for taking out his anger out on his best friend. That was something he would have to add to the long list of things he would have to deal with later - it was beginning to be an extremely long list.<p>

Lost in his thoughts, he'd ignored the knocking, hoping that his lack of response would be a hint to whoever it was on the other side of the door. Then there was a second knock.

"Harry," he immediately recognised Lupin's muffled voice. "Can I please come in?"

Harry sighed loudly, knowing he couldn't send the man away the same way he'd done Ron. "Fine, come in then."

He didn't bother moving to greet the man, he actually felt quite incapable of moving from his huddled up position since he moved into it moments after he'd entered the dorm. He heard Lupin cross the threshold and walk across to stand at the foot of his bed.

"So, Harry," Lupin began uncomfortably, deciding to seat himself at the bottom corner of the bed. "You've obviously spoken to Dawn and read the prophecy by now?"

Harry didn't reply, however the question was more rhetorical at the stage anyway, Lupin just had to take one look at the state of Harry and know that he'd discovered both pieces of life-changing news.

Lupin cleared his throat nervously. "Harry, I know this difficult but-"

"_Difficult?_" Harry interrupted, incredulously with a hint of sarcasm, speaking through his hands. "_Difficult_ doesn't even begin to describe it... I-I'm too young, I'm only seventeen for Merlin's sake and-"

"Dawn's been going through the exact same thing," Lupin pointed out, a hint of annoyance breaking through the usually calm exterior. "And has had to do so for the past five months, and although she is an incredible young woman, now she needs you there," he took a deep breath, lowering his voice down a tone. "I understand that you need your time to get your head around it, but take some comfort in the fact that it doesn't matter how old you are, all those fears and panic of an expectant parent are always there. And that is speaking from experience."

"Experience?" Harry asked, lifting his head to finally make proper eye contact with the older man for the first time. "Is Tonks-"

"Pregnant, yes," Lupin pre-empted. "And quite far along, too. I didn't get to share the news with you before you had to disappear from the attack on Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Harry looked slightly more relaxed from when Lupin had first entered. "Then congratulations, I guess... I know that you'd make a great father to him or her."

Lupin got up and walked over to beside Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "So will you, Harry, albeit a little earlier than you thought you would. Just give it all time."

Harry appreciated that Lupin had confidence in him, but he still had trouble trying to imagine it, it certainly wasn't something that he'd ever thought about, especially not in these circumstances either. Feeling slightly better, he pushed himself up off the bed and walked over to gaze out of the dorm's window.

"Lupin, what about the prophecy?"

"I've tried my best to keep anyone from discovering the prophecy, even from members of the Order, I thought this best for Dawn and the baby's protection... although I believe it's only a matter of time before the secret gets out, despite my best efforts," Lupin explained. "However, we can all be thankful that Dawn is here at Hogwarts, one of the safest places she can be right now."

Harry dropped his head. "You know what the worst thing about the prophecy is?" Lupin remained silent, allowing Harry the opportunity to vent his troubles. "I've spent the past sixteen years with a life that has constantly been affected by a stupid, sodding prophecy. Just when I think it couldn't make my life any worse, I lose another person I care about... so now there's another prophecy and I-I," Harry's voice wavered. "I don't want what's happened to me to happen to anyone else, let alone my own kid."

Lupin nodded sympathetically. "But think of it this way, Harry. Even if your child's life was severely impacted by this prophecy, at least it will have a father who understands what it's like."


	11. When Everyone Finds Out

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Here's the next instalment. Didn't think that I was going to be posting it tonight, but I powered through and here it is (although now it's quite late, oops!). I had someone ask me about how long it was going to be posting now that I'm up to where I had initially written, in answer to that I actually had edited the chapters a bit so even though I'd said I'd written the first 10 chapters, by the time I changed this around it was only about 7 or 8 chapters. So I have actually been writing new chapters for the last couple of chapters and it's generally been taking me a week, depending on how busy I am. I hope to keep updating about that often.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eleven – When Everyone Finds Out<span>

That evening Harry had slept in his old bed at Hogwarts, although he didn't have much success with sleep, he found it comforting to be back in the place he basically called home after spending months in the tent with Ron and Hermione. He had drawn the curtains around his four-poster bed not long after Lupin had left, knowing that his old dorm mates would be retreating to bed soon and he just didn't think he could show any sense of composure when he felt like his world had crumbled around him in a matter of hours.

As he lay awake most of the night, all he could do was replay the events of the day over and over again, as well as thinking ahead to what was to come. It all still seemed surreal to him, how was he supposed to be a father to a child, when in some ways he still felt like he had so much growing up to do himself? He then wondered what would have happened if his parents were still alive and he was just a normal kid, would this prophecy still have found a way to him? The more he thought about it the more he didn't think that there would have ever been a possible reality for him to be just another ordinary wizard; him and prophecies just seemed to go together like galleons and sickles.

He drifted off for a little while, before the next time his brain went into overdrive and woke him up again. He pulled back his curtains a tiny bit and looked out across the dorm, noticing all beds had sleeping occupants. He noticed that Ron had also retired to his old bed; even though they technically weren't Hogwarts students at the moment, it was the most logical sleeping arrangement. Unfortunately, this made for a somewhat awkward morning when Harry, who'd managed to finally drift off again, had woken up to four very-much-awake, young wizards, all talking quite loudly.

"You okay there, Harry?" Dean asked when Harry bravely thrust open his curtains.

Seamus looked up from his seated position on his trunk, where he was currently tying up his shoelaces. "Yeah, we were starting to think you weren't alive in there."

Harry could feel Ron's eyes boring into him, before Ron spoke up. "Watch out, you'd better not ask him how he is, he'll probably Avada Kedavra you or something."

Neville, Dean and Seamus all looked uncomfortable, busying themselves in getting ready for breakfast. Meanwhile, Harry ran his hand through his hair awkwardly, sighing as he swung his feet around to push himself out of bed. Now that he had put some sleep between himself and the night before, the guilt for the way he'd taken his stress out on Ron had increased significantly.

"L-listen, Ron," he began with a stammer, unsure of what to say. "I know that I was a complete prat last night, I... I'm just dealing with something quite serious right now and I shouldn't have taken it out on you... I'm sorry."

Ron's face softened slightly in acceptance of the apology; however, he still looked like he had something on his mind. "It's not just about last night, Harry. Something hasn't been right for a while now, I gave you some space hoping you would come and talk when you were ready but you didn't. I'm your best mate; I thought you could share anything with me."

Harry took in a deep breath, looking at the other three who were failing miserably at looking like they weren't listening. "I... Dawn..." he trailed off and took in a deep breath. "I-I can't, Ron."

Harry snatched up a random collection of clean clothes and raced into to the bathroom to shower, avoiding the curious and concerned stares of his dorm mates. Meanwhile, the four remaining boys, minus Neville, gave each other confused looks.

"What's going on with Harry?" Seamus asked.

Ron quickly shrugged. "That's what I was just getting at; he hasn't even been talking to Hermione or me. He wasn't this bad when we were away from Hogwarts, he just seemed a little spaced out at times and maybe a little less talkative, I suppose. But since he got back yesterday, this behaviour's probably tripled at least."

"Did you hear him, he just said something about Dawn – what does she have to do with anything?" Dean added. "Ooh, maybe there's something going on between them!"

Dean ducked a nearby pillow that was launched at his head by Ron. "Don't be stupid, Thomas! Harry broke up with my sister not that long back, and not by choice, as far as I know."

"Well you saw them yesterday," Seamus said in the process of attempting to make his bed somewhat presentable. "We were all surprised to see they knew each other, especially because I've heard Dawn say that she'd never heard of the Wizarding World before her sister brought her here... and she'd never been to the UK before until a couple of months back."

Ron frowned. "That is strange; I think we should run this by Hermione, she'd figure it out for us..."

A silence fell over the group, before something came to Dean's attention.

"Oi, Neville... you're being awfully quiet over there," Dean piped up, as three sets of eyes swung their attention towards Neville.

Neville paused; he'd been buttoning and unbuttoning his cardigan over and over again for the past few minutes, trying to look nonchalant. "T-there's nothing to say."

Within seconds Ron had approached him, Dean and Seamus following behind with curiousity.

"Neville," Ron said, drawing his name out with a tacky smile. "If you knew something, you would tell us, right?"

Neville sighed deeply. "Why, oh why did I not do that Transfiguration essay earlier? It keeps coming back to bite me!"

"Do you mean Harry said something to you in the Common Room last night? What did he say?" Ron interrogated.

Neville shook his head. "No... Not exactly. It wasn't Harry, and that's all I'm saying."

Ron gave him a couple of firm pats on the shoulder. "Come on, Neville – was it Dawn?"

Neville picked up his wand from his bedside table and shoved it in his pocket with some urgency, feeling the sudden need to make himself scarce. He certainly knew that Ron wouldn't give up easily, and was kicking himself for saying anything in the first place.

"No, it wasn't Dawn," Neville said hurriedly as he bolted past Ron, Dean and Seamus for the door. "I-I think we should head down to breakfast."

* * *

><p>Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, shortened due to some students still away from Christmas, staring into his cereal as he vaguely heard Hermione showing him the same concern Ron had shown him earlier up in the dorm. He looked halfway down the table to see an equally gloomy Ginny sitting next to Neville, obviously trying her best to put distance between the two of them. Her reaction in trying to ignore him when he'd walked down the table had basically confirmed what Dawn had suggested up in the Astronomy Tower - that Ginny had figured out that he was the father of Dawn's baby.<p>

"Did you and Ginny have a fight or something?" Hermione questioned, nodding in Ginny's direction.

Ron, who had been absorbed in enjoying a long, overdue, full English breakfast, suddenly looked up from his food, only noticing Ginny's avoidance of them for the first time. He too looked at Harry with interest; however Harry simply shrugged, deciding on playing ignorant to stop them both from asking him any further questions

They weren't the only two people he felt looking at him like an animal on show, he could feel the eyes of most of the Great Hall on him, no doubt talking about his unexpected return to Hogwarts and hypothesising where he, Ron and Hermione had been these past five or so months. He also noticed unfamiliar faces looking his way from the Staff Table, who he presumed to be the other people visiting with Dawn that Lupin had been telling them about.

He tried his best to appear extremely absorbed in eating his food when he noticed a short, blonde woman walking towards them, and then as she got closer he suddenly realised that he'd seen her face before – in those recurring dreams he'd been having.

"Hi there," she greeted to him, Ron and Hermione, although she looked most interested in scrutinising him. "I'm Buffy; Lupin was telling me about you guys and this whole Voldemort-thing. Said that he also told you about me, I'm the slayer… well, a slayer, I guess."

"Hello, I'm Hermione and this is Ron and Harry," Hermione was first to answer with a smile, gesturing towards Ron and Harry before Hermione continued on. "I've always wanted to meet a slayer ever since I read about them..."

Hermione had continued babbling on, but Harry quickly tuned her out as he thought back to that dream and began wondering why it had had the slayer in it. As he thought about it, it suddenly all made sense to him. _This is Dawn's sister_. _She must have been talking about Dawn in the dream... and those baby's cries..._

He felt something nudge him out of his revelation, soon realising it was Ron's elbow trying to get his attention.

"Sorry," he said quickly, noticing three sets of eyes on him.

"I was just saying, Harry," Buffy began. "After I found out that you three had turned up last night, I was speaking to Lupin and he was saying that you're up to speed on everything and I wouldn't mind getting an opportunity to speak to you... privately."

Harry softly nodded and shifted uneasily in his seat. _Dawn didn't say that her sister knew, did she?_

The woman standing before them had a strong, menacing presence that was quickly evident to him and he assumed this was because she was a slayer. Furthermore, even just from the dream he'd been having he had a good idea of what Buffy was capable of doing and was really keen to avoid finding himself alone with blonde, whether she knew about him and Dawn or not.

"Anyway, I'll let you guys finish your breakfast and I'm sure we'll catch up properly later on," Buffy finished with a big smile, spinning on her heel and wandering back up the Great Hall.

"Seriously, Harry," Hermione said earnestly, not taking long to switch the focus back to him. "What was she just talking about then? We know Lupin knows something about what's going on because we saw him on his way to talk to you last night, but now she was just hinting at something too."

Ron nodded from beside Hermione. "Yeah, mate, Hermione's right. I just don't understand why Lupin and the slayer know what's going on, when you can't even share it with us."

Harry dropped his fork with a sudden thud. "Alright, you're both right. There is something I have been keeping from you and I promise I'll tell you all about it," he sighed, looking around noticing some of the other students were still glancing over. "Just not here or right now."

After staring at him for a moment, his two friends seemed satisfied with this and said nothing further on the matter. In the meantime, Harry continued eating his scrambled eggs, whilst staring off into space for a few moments. His eye was then caught by Dawn apprehensively entering the Great Hall; she immediately looked over his way and noticed she'd caught his attention. They briefly shared an anxious look, both knowing they still had much more to discuss, before Dawn wandered up the Gryffindor table.

Harry watched as Dawn greeted a few of the other Gryffindors, pausing when she got to the part of the table that Ginny, Neville and a few others were sitting at. He gazed around and noticed that Buffy was looking over towards his way, and he quickly put his head down, thinking that she may pick up on something if his gaze lingered on Dawn for too long. However, his head soon snapped up and around, as did the rest of Hogwarts population, when a screaming female voice echoed through the hall.

"Do you think _sorry_ is going to fix everything, Dawn?" Ginny's screaming voice carried, she had stood up, clutching her spoon tightly. "You knew... YOU KNEW how I still felt about Harry and had a chance to tell me that... THAT HE'S THE FATHER OF YOUR CHILD BUT-"

It would have been possible to hear a pin drop at that moment, as Ginny eyes widened and she promptly covered her mouth, looking around as if she only just realised they had an audience. Dawn, in the meantime, had looked as if she'd been slapped, her eyes already welling up with tears.

"Dawn, I'm so sorry!" Ginny pleaded her eyes also clouding up with unshed tears. "I'm know I'm angry, but I didn't mean to tell-"

She didn't get to finish what she was saying, as Buffy had stood up from the Staff table, taking several steps towards the Gryffindor table. "WHAT? Dawn! You're... YOU'RE PREGNANT?"

Harry and the rest of the Great Hall watched as Dawn briefly looked over at her sister with a horrified look and then covered her tear-streaked face and ran from the Great Hall. Once she was gone, everyone then turned their attention towards a remorseful Ginny, who dropped the spoon she'd had a death-grip on and also fled the hall.

At this point, Harry put his head in his hands for a moment and groaned, knowing all too well that all the attention had now shifted towards him. When he looked up, he first saw Buffy's death glare, Hermione's shock and Ron's confusion, followed by the intrigued looks from everyone else in the room. He just wished that the floor would open up and swallow him whole at this point.

"Is this true, Harry?" Hermione was first to speak much quieter than the previous dialogue, however he was sure half the Great Hall would have heard her in the severe silence.

Without saying anything, generally because he didn't know what to say at this point, Harry pushed himself up from the seat and tried his best to stop himself from breaking into a run as he exited the hall. Hearing a roar of scandalised chatter ark up as he bolted through the double doors and out into the Entrance Hall.

* * *

><p>Ginny had bolted out through the front doors and out through the snow-covered grounds, running until she felt like she'd put enough distance between herself and the horror and embarrassment of the Great Hall. When her legs began to get a bit tired, she simply stopped and dropped against a nearby tree, burying her face in her arms. Of course she was still angry at Dawn (and Harry, for that matter), but she never intended on screaming their secret for the whole of Hogwarts to hear. She knew deep down that she wasn't a spiteful person, however she was sickened that somewhere in there was a part of her that felt content with what she'd done, and that scared her.<p>

She knew that Harry had broken it off with her a while ago now, but she always thought that the war would end and that things would go back to the way they were and they would spend the rest of their lives together. But now, now everything had changed and she couldn't see that happening. She wondered how the whole thing had come about between Dawn and Harry, Dawn was basically a muggle, so when would the two of them have met? Also she'd told her when they first met that it was basically a one-night stand. Even that part confused her, she thought she knew Harry well, that he was the chivalrous type and usually wouldn't be prone to such things. Having said that, Ginny knew that also meant that Harry wasn't just going to turn his back on Dawn now, as much as Ginny still wanted him for herself.

Her stream of thoughts were broken by the sound of footsteps trudging through the thick covering of snow and she inwardly groaned, really wanting to tell them then and there to just go away. She looked up to see Neville's face as he took the last few steps towards her.

"You didn't have to come after me," she pointed out quietly, wiping a tear away.

Neville shrugged, standing there with his hands casually in his pockets. "It was too noisy in there in the hall, besides, I wanted to see if you were alright."

Ginny covered her face in horror. "I don't deserve any sympathy right now; it was completely horrible of me to shout out Dawn's personal business for everyone to hear."

Neville stood there thoughtfully. "It may not have been the best approach," he finally replied. "But... I, I can understand that you were angry and upset, with becoming friends with Dawn and all the history between you and Harry."

Ginny gave a sniff and then sighed. "It doesn't matter now though, does it? That's all it's going to be between me and Harry now... history."

Neville, who had begun tracing shapes in the snow with his foot, didn't say anything for a moment, then stopped to look back at Ginny. "It's pretty cold out here... I can just hear my Gran's voice right now - 'come inside, you'll catch a cold, you stupid boy'."

Ginny got the hint and nodded. "You should go ahead, I'll just need a moment and I'll see you upstairs."

Neville simply nodded, hesitantly spinning around to make his way back towards the castle. In the meantime, Ginny stared blankly at the patterns that Neville had created in the snow as she listened to the footsteps die away, however suddenly she heard the footsteps approaching again.

"Really, I'm fine, Neville," she said sharply, not looking up.

"Pretty sure this Neville wouldn't be caught dead wearing jeans this tight, but yeah I think I saw your friend heading inside," a female, American accent reached her ears.

Ginny's head shot up, she recognised the woman standing before her as one of Hogwarts' visitors, which she hadn't had a chance to talk to her but she remembered hearing Dawn say she was a slayer like Buffy.

"Hey. Name's Faith," the brunette introduced herself, holding her hand out for what Ginny thought was a handshake; however she quickly noticed a metallic object in Faith's hand.

"Hi, I'm Ginny. You're a slayer, right?" she replied as Faith casually nodded, her eyes still on the mysterious object. "Did I drop something in the snow?"

Faith kept a blank face, Ginny could tell she was the kind of person who played her cards close to her chest. "Well, I'll make you a deal," she began thoughtfully. "I'll show ya what I have here if you stop moping in the cold, wet snow."

Ginny almost laughed, she was beginning to notice how straight to the point these American visitors were. She begrudgingly agreed to the terms, and pushed herself up to stand across from Faith, looking at her expectantly. Within moments, the woman had placed the object in her waiting hands. She studied the item for a moment, she couldn't quite make out what it was - it was metal with a long, zigzagged portion then underneath that was a round, flatter part, with several small lumps in one straight line in the centre of it.

When Ginny looked confused as to what the object was, as well as why she was given it, Faith stepped in. "It's a spoon... your spoon from breakfast."

Ginny's frown turned into a look of mystification. _How can this be the spoon I was using earlier?_

"What happened to it?"

Faith coolly inspected her fingernails. "You squeezed the life out of it when you went all Jerry Springer back in there."

Ginny had no idea who or what 'Jerry Springer' was, but she understood enough of what the slayer was saying to know that she'd been the one to mangle this spoon when she was screaming at Dawn in the Great Hall. She flushed red from mortification at the mention of her outburst, and then wondered how she was able to mutilate a spoon to this extent, especially without the use of magic. Then again when she thought about it, she seemed to unexplainably be causing a bit of a wave of destruction of things she physically came into contact with lately.

"I- I didn't even notice I did that," she paused, looking up to see Faith smirking. "Or how, for that matter... What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's _wrong_ with you," Faith put a hand on her shoulder. "But it's kinda a long story, and to sum it all up – the reason why my whole gang is here is 'coz we knew there was at least one slayer here at Hogwarts, judging by what you did with your grudge against that spoon, it looks like you're it, Red."

Ginny frowned. "But I'm a witch, how can I be a slayer as well?"

"Not sure how it works," Faith replied with a shrug. "But if anything it'll make you a cut above the rest of us slayers, it'll be interesting to see what you can do."

Ginny shook her head and took a few steps away from Faith in an attempt to bring an end to the conversation. "I don't think... I don't think I can do this, I already have too much happening in my life at the moment and-"

"Let me give you a piece of advice," Faith interrupted, causing Ginny to halt in her tracks. "I heard you back in there," she lazily gestured back towards the castle. "I know you're all heartbroken and whatever, but think about it – if this guy felt the same way about you, wouldn't he be the one standing here with you right now?"

The redhead let out a loud sob, knowing that this complete stranger had hit the nail on the head. Unable to answer and wanting to very much escape the discussion, she went to take another step but the older woman spoke again.

"If you wanna be trained by me or Buffy, come let us know... maybe pretending this guy's face is a punching bag is what you need. Think about it."

* * *

><p>Karma certainly had a way of finding something to come back and bite you. Well, Dawn certainly thought so at the current point in time, as she sat up on the stone edge of the Astronomy Tower, legs dangling precariously over the edge. By this point in time, the tears from earlier had ceased, almost as if her body was rejecting anymore crying because she'd done way too much over the past week alone.<p>

Deep in thought, she gazed down at the grounds below and watched a person, who looked more like a tiny ant from this elevation, walk across the snow towards the Entrance Hall below, followed by another dot moving not far behind.

_I really had all of this coming_, a negative voice told her.

She just wished that she could go back and do-over the past few months, sure if the prophecy meant that this baby was going to be regardless of what she did then so be it, but she wished she could desperately change her choices since finding out about her pregnancy. For starters, she would have told Buffy much sooner than this and she realised that she needed a sister to turn to now more than even. But was Buffy going to even talk to her again after months of lies?

The tingling sensation just below her belly button, that still caught her by surprise, started up again, and so she wasn't surprised when she heard footsteps echoing up to the top of the tower where she sat. She waited until she could hear them practically behind her, but didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry I ran out and left you to deal with the craziness and whatnot," she apologised, finally turning to face the newcomer.

She saw Harry standing there with a deep frown. "How did you know-"

"Well, as the prophecy said, the baby is special... I think it can sense when you're nearby. I mean, it somehow lead me down to the Entrance Hall when you arrived yesterday," Dawn replied, turning her body so that her back leant against the cut-out in the stone, whilst her feet tucked up against the other side.

Harry looked slightly panicked as he watched her shuffle around. "I don't think that's such a good place to sit, especially with all the frost and ice this time of year."

Dawn shrugged, peering over the edge slightly. "I thought it looked alright... Why? Are you afraid of heights, Harry?"

"Not after years of playing Quidditch," he replied, she noticed he looked even more uncomfortable as she leant over slightly. "Uh..."

She almost smiled at his concern as she swung her legs around to stand on the floor. "Okay, okay. Just to keep you from having a heart attack there... Hey, how did you know I came up here?"

"As I said last night, it's a great place to come and think, and I assumed you had a lot to think about," he shuffled his feet. "... Are you alright, Dawn?"

She knew that her face would have shown the evidence of her crying before, that she probably had terrible, splotched cheeks and puffy eyes. All she could find herself doing in response was a shrug, before a thought struck her.

"Hey, you might as well get rid of that spell for good, it's no use now."

Harry looked slightly concerned but nodded, and within moments he had cast the counter-spell revealing Dawn's five-and-a-half month pregnant belly. Moments after doing this something dawned on him.

"But who re-cast the spell after I removed it last night?" he asked suddenly.

She looked down and placed a hand on her stomach. "That's what I was saying; the baby can do things... Last night I'd just gone down the tower, when I looked down and realised there was no spell. Suddenly there was this kind of light or something and then before I knew it – presto, all concealed again!"

Harry tilted his head in question of whether he'd heard her correctly. "Hold on, did you just say that the- the baby re-cast that spell from inside you?"

Dawn took in his reaction. "I'm assuming this doesn't really happen for magical babies usually?"

Harry shook his head. "Not that I know of," he paused and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Er, not that I know much about babies in general."

"Neither do I," Dawn admitted, placing a soft hand on Harry's arm.

After a comfortable silence, Dawn's attention was abruptly drawn down the arm her hand had lingered on; his hand was bleeding slightly and showing signs of turning a dark purple colour with reasonably severe bruising. At her initial glance, she could also tell that the injury was very recent.

"Harry, what happened to you hand?" she exclaimed to which he pulled away.

"It's nothing," he quickly brushed it off, but she stared at him expectedly. "Well... accidentally took my frustrations out on the wrong wall, well actually any wall in Hogwarts generally isn't a good option... but it'll be fine."

Not taking that as an acceptable answer, she immediately snatched up the injured hand again to get a closer look at it, earning a wince from Harry. "No, that doesn't look 'fine'."

Before he knew it, Dawn had ripped a jagged square of cloth from her shirt (mumbling about how she didn't like that top anyway) and marched over to the ledge for a moment, returning seconds later with the piece of cloth wrapped around a decent gathering of cold snow. Harry went to say something but she suddenly took him by the arm and dragged him over to the bench they'd sat at the previous night. She placed the make-shift icepack on his injured hand, producing another cringe of discomfort from the boy sitting across from her. Although Harry could have gone to the Hospital Wing for treatment, there was something oddly comforting about letting Dawn tend to it the muggle way.

"That looks sore," she said as she carefully studied the bruising. "I hope you didn't go punching walls on my account..."

Harry was too busy observing the girl in front of him while she was too focused on nursing his hand, and he was quickly reminded of how beautiful she really was, especially the amazing blue colour of her eyes. Of course he thought she was pretty that afternoon they met, but he noticed something different about her now, her face had a sparkle about it, even if it was still slightly blotchy right now.

_Probably because she's having your baby_, he thought all of a sudden, startling himself and causing him to jerk his hand away a little too vigorously, sending a pain shooting through his hand.

He felt the beginnings of another freak-out and almost felt like fleeing for a moment; however when she looked up at him with a small look of saddened rejection, he quickly pushed those feelings into the background again.

"Sorry," he immediately apologised, replacing his hand to receive Dawn's treatment once again.

He took a deep breath as Dawn was placing the icepack on his aching hand, the silence between them soon broken by the audible grumbling of her stomach, reminding them that she hadn't had a chance to have breakfast before the incident in the Great Hall.

Dawn sighed. "I really don't want to go down there right now... It'd be better to face Buffy once things have calmed down."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, before a light bulb went off in his head. "That feels loads better. Thanks, Dawn," he said with an appreciative smile, taking the icepack off his hand. "As far as breakfast goes, I have an idea."

And off they went.


	12. When They Hide Out

Disclamer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Authors Note:  Another late night and here's the next chapter. I just wanted to say one thing: thanks to those who have taken the time to review... but I know there are a lot of people tracking this story, can you please take the time to review, even if it's just a few words. It's quite depressing to only have two or three reviews tops for all of the hard work I've put it, so I'd be so grateful if you took the time. Thanks!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twelve – When They Hide Out<span>

"Ok," Buffy began as she stormed into the Staff Room, followed by the rest of 'the Scoobies' (minus Faith), Lupin and McGonagall. "SO WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

She looked around at the other faces, Willow and Xander next to her were as equally shell-shocked and confused, however something caught her attention about the expressions of others standing there, particularly Giles and Lupin.

"Wait! How come you guys don't look so shocked?" Buffy turned to look at Giles directly, noticing his gaze drop from hers in guilt. "Giles, YOU KNEW? Just how many more of you knew about this and didn't tell me?"

"Buffy, I was not lying to you, I assure you I've only known less than a week – I made Dawn promise she was going to tell you herself, although that was before things changed when Lupin brought Harry here," Giles explained calmly.

The mention of the werewolf drew sudden attention towards him, Buffy turned to glare at the older man. "What about you? You _obviously _knew about this! How long has this been going on? I mean, you deliberately tracked Harry down and brought him here to Hogwarts..."

Although Lupin was uncomfortable, he continued to maintain a strong front and was about to answer when Willow joined the conversation with a scowl on her face. "I don't understand - when did this happen? Dawn's been here at Hogwarts for months and we knew about the prophecy."

"We found out too late," Lupin finally piped up ("WHAT?" Buffy screeched). "Dawn was already eight weeks pregnant when I came to Rupert with the prophecy. When she heard the prophecy herself, she realised. I then also discovered this a couple of days later."

"Remus," McGonagall began with shock, having just been filled in about the basics of the prophecy by Giles. "Why did you not come forward to the Order with this information? Surely this was a crucial matter to be brought to our attention..."

Lupin nodded as he pinched the bridge of his nose in stress, before making eye contact with the Headmistress. "Minerva, you must believe that I acted in the best interest of both Dawn and the child when I chose to keep this from the Order. I knew Voldemort was unaware of the prophecy and the less people who knew about it, the safer she was from him."

McGonagall's facial expression neither indicated whether she agreed with his reasoning or not. "Unfortunately now that Miss Weasley made the entire Hogwarts aware of the situation, it will only be a matter of time before the school is in danger and I cannot allow the students in my care to be subjected to that."

"I thought this was one of the safest places to be with the barrier thingys around the school," Xander pointed out, having spent some time with Hagrid, learning many things about Hogwarts and its grounds.

Lupin nodded. "Usually, yes, however Voldemort is getting stronger and gaining more followers everyday... perhaps even some of the students here. These wards will struggle should he decide to launch an all-out attack on the castle."

"Perhaps Willow could do something to help strengthen the wards?" Giles suggested with raised eyebrows.

"That is actually a great idea, Rupert," Lupin said optimistically. "I believe having a combination of magics, especially one as powerful as Willow's, to protect the castle would significantly strengthen the wards and help stop Voldemort from breaking through."

All eyes swung towards the redhead, to which she nodded with some confidence. "Actually, I thought I spotted a few areas of improvement when Hagrid was showing me... I might be able to do something there."

There was a brief silence among the group, before Buffy, who had still been silent fuming whilst the others conversed, finally spoke up again. "That's all great guys," she said somehow managing to be genuine and sarcastic at the same time. "But what's happening with my sister? She's only seventeen? Lupin, you know the details, how and when _the hell_ did this happen?"

"Well, I think the details are for Dawn to share with you directly," he said at first, noticing Buffy put her hands on her hips angrily. "However, I can tell you that, through chance or through the prophecy we don't know, Dawn and Harry met back in London-"

"London?" Buffy cut in. "That was almost six months ago! DAWN IS ALMOST SIX MONTHS PREGNANT AND SHE DIDN'T TELL ME?"

Buffy stumbled down into the nearest chair, her eyes welling up with both anger and concern for her younger sister. How could she keep something like this from her for so long? She was extremely hurt by the thought that Dawn felt like she couldn't share something like this with her, not to mention the fact that she was scared for what was to come for Dawn.

Willow went over to put a supportive hand on Buffy's shoulder, while Xander stood there shaking his head in disbelief. "This is freakin' crazy, I can't believe little Dawnie is knocked up... especially with a magical baby that's supposed to be the saviour of the world."

Meanwhile, McGonagall turned to Giles and Lupin. "I think it would be best to not delay in strengthening those wards until we properly discuss where to go from here. Rupert, I will see to it that Filius and Hagrid show both yourself and Ms. Rosenberg down to the castle grounds to do so. In the meantime, Remus and I will contact the Order members and see to it that they come to Hogwarts immediately."

Buffy recovered from her bemused state and stood up all of a sudden. "I'm going to try and find Dawn."

Xander appeared beside her. "I'd better come with," he said, knowing full too well that he had to make sure Buffy didn't do anything rash.

Everyone nodded in agreement, knowing what they all had to do, so they all parted from the Staff Room, splitting off into their different groups.

* * *

><p>"I don't know how many times in my life I wished I had one of these," Dawn said as both her and Harry walked the corridors under the cover of the Invisibility cloak, wanting to go undetected by anyone they passed.<p>

"It belonged to my father," Harry explained. "It's saved my life or saved me from Filch so many times."

When Harry insisted he had a good idea to get them food, Dawn had immediately dismissed it saying that she didn't want to put up with everyone's whispers, or worse, run into her sister. She knew that Buffy would be furious, and considered the fact that avoiding everything so far hadn't done her much good, however surely some time for Buffy to cool down would be better?

After she told him her concerns, Harry showed her his invisibility cloak, which he tended to carry around with him most times nowadays, telling her that they would be able to walk the corridors unseen if they wanted. Needless to say Dawn was thrilled with this idea.

"I was actually hiding underneath the cloak when I first saw you back in London," Harry revealed quietly as they turned a corner.

He could see her face register with an understanding. "Oh, that's why it seemed like you appeared out of nowhere! I didn't remember seeing you in the hall before I fell - that makes sense now."

Fortunately, they didn't have to travel very far; soon Harry stopped them in a corridor on the seventh floor, opposite an old tapestry with what Dawn thought were very gross, ugly creatures on it.

"This is it," Harry announced.

"We're not going to the kitchens then?" she asked, noticing a look of surprise from Harry beside her. "Lavender and Parvati told me about them... a pregnant girl's gotta eat."

He pulled the cloak off them and folded it away before he started to pace in front of an arbitrary spot in front of the stone corridor wall. Dawn stared at him strangely.

"What's with the pacing?" she asked.

"You'll see," was all Harry said, as Dawn watched with amazement when a large set of wooden doors formed on the wall in front of them.

"Is that a special, concealed room or something?"

Harry nodded. "You're actually almost right, it's called the Room of Requirement – basically the user can make this room to suit whatever their needs at the time are."

Dawn's eyes widened. "Wow... this place finds a way to amaze me every day!"

Harry smiled, seeing Dawn's reaction made him come to the realisation that maybe he had started taking some of this magic for granted, and tried to remember back to what it felt like to be discovering it for the first time seven years ago. Once he broke from his thoughts, he looked over and could see that Dawn was just dying to discover what was beyond the doors in front of them.

"Before we go in, there's just one more thing," he explained. "Dobby!"

Dawn immediately recognised the name as one of the creatures she'd met a couple of times while she was down in the kitchens, and before she knew it, the house elf appeared in front of them with a loud crack.

"Harry Potter! Dobby heard Harry Potter had returned," Dobby called out enthusiastically, smiling up at him.

"Hello, Dobby," Harry greeted warmly.

The house elf then noticed that Harry had company and turned to look at Dawn. "Ah! Harry Potter has company," Dobby stated the obvious.

Dawn smiled down at Dobby. "Hi there, Dobby. I'm Dawn, I'm sure we've met down in the kitchens once or twice."

Dobby nodded. "Dobby does remember," he then looked at Dawn's stomach. "But Dobby did not know that Miss Dawn was with child. Now Dobby understands why Miss Dawn needed so much food," he missed the slightly affronted look on her face, as he glanced between the two people standing before him. "Is Miss Dawn's child also Harry Potter's?"

Harry was once again surprised at this for a moment, before his expression turned to neutral again and he simply nodded in response. Dobby positively beamed at this.

"Dobby must give Harry Potter and Miss Dawn a present!" he said eagerly.

Harry scratched his head uncomfortably. "Well, er, there is actually something you could do for us."

"Dobby would do anything for his friend, Harry Potter!" Dobby answered excitedly.

"Thanks, Dobby. Well, we didn't have breakfast down in the Great Hall before and was wondering if you might be able to organise some food up here in the Room of Requirement," Harry asked, pointing towards the door behind Dobby.

"Dobby will go back the kitchens and bring food back immediately – wait here!" the house elf said not hesitating in disappearing with another loud crack.

"I thought you said that this room could give you whatever you need?" Dawn asked as they waited from Dobby to come back.

Harry shook his head quickly. "The one thing the Room of Requirement can't generate is food; luckily the house elves can easily transport food up for us."

Before they knew it, Dobby had reappeared in front of them, earning a "Geez that was fast!" from Dawn. The house elf did a little bow for them.

"It is ready, Dobby made sure there was plenty of food," Dobby announced as he looked up at Dawn and Harry.

"Thanks, Dobby. I'm starving!" Dawn said, to which Dobby looked pleased.

Harry reached down and gave Dobby an appreciative pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, thank you, Dobby. And please thank Winky and the other elves for us too."

Dobby nodded swiftly. "Dobby thinks Harry Potter and Miss Dawn will enjoy what Dobby has done."

The elf had a mischievous twinkle in his eye before he disappeared again, leaving Harry and Dawn in the empty corridor. Dawn, who had been dying to see inside the room when it first appeared, was pleased when Harry finally walked over and opened the door, stepping aside to let her through first. He followed in directly behind Dawn, groaning when he looked around the room, whilst Dawn looked fascinated and mesmerised.

"Sorry," Harry began as he looked around, turning slightly red from embarrassment. "...The decorations are purely Dobby's work - he can get a bit carried away sometimes."

Dawn shook her head. "Don't say sorry, it's, well... magical."

Harry had created a room about the size, and as equally cosy, as the Gryffindor Common Room, with a reasonably large, round table in the centre with two seats opposite each other. Meanwhile, Dobby had covered the table with several pitchers of pumpkin juice and heaped platters displaying a variety of breakfast foods, including breads and fruits. However, the house elf had also gone to the trouble of decorating around the room with dozens of beautiful, twinkling, white lanterns, giving the room quite an intimate atmosphere.

"Can't say I've ever had a candle-lit breakfast before, how very creative of him," Dawn broke their silence.

"I can get rid of them if you want," Harry trailed off.

"No, Dobby went to all of this trouble," Dawn responded quickly, her stomach reminding them of why they were there. "Come on, let's eat!"

Dawn had sat down at the table in lightning speed, already pouring herself and Harry a juice each before Harry had even made a move. Even though he'd managed to have some breakfast before the big incident downstairs, like Dawn he hadn't had any dinner the night before and was still quite hungry. They made light conversation as they ate, which was a nice change, obviously both having had their fair share of intense conversations over the past twelve or so hours. Furthermore, considering the prophecy and the fact that they were having a baby together, they still had so much to learn about each other. They spent a while talking about their lives before everything had become so complicated for them, and Harry was relieved that this time round he could be completely honest about all things magical, however he then realised as Dawn talked about herself how much she knew about supernatural things, being the sister of a slayer.

"So," Dawn said uncertainly, meeting his eyes as she brought up a subject she'd be curious of for most of their conversation. "I remember when we first met; you said that you had to bring the person who killed your parents to justice. Obviously I know a lot more about that now, but no one, even Remus, had heard from you guys or knew what you were doing these past few months... why all the mystery?"

Harry put down the goblet of pumpkin juice he was drinking, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Well, only Ron, Hermione and I know about it," he paused undecidedly before finally continuing. "I'm sure you've heard about Dumbledore by now?" a saddened look passed over his face.

She nodded, leaning forward slightly. "Listen; tell me if I'm being too nosey or anything. I just figure with the prophecy and this baby and everything, I should learn as much as possible about this Voldemort dude if he's going to be coming after me."

Harry's face softened slightly, his hesitation departing him. "You're absolutely right... Dumbledore left something in his will, something that I needed to do before Voldemort could be defeated, but with the, uh," he paused having trouble saying the word that still sounded so foreign in his head, let alone on his lips. "With the baby now... I'm not sure where that leaves everything. But Dumbledore knew that to never really be defeated, Voldemort had split his soul into seven pieces, magically hiding them in random objects - called horcruxes."

"Whoa, talk about extreme," was all Dawn could say at first. "So do you know where any of these vorcruxes are?"

Harry nodded. "Dumbledore had already discovered two and made sure they were destroyed, and then left it up to us to find the others. Ron, Hermione and I found another horcrux, a locket, while we were off in hiding, but we still don't have any idea where the rest are... he generally selected objects that had some connection to him; Hermione suggested there could be one here at Hogwarts."

Dawn frowned. "But now this prophecy says that our child is supposed to be powerful enough to defeat Voldemort, would we still need to find those thingys?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, being too caught up in the emotions of everything up until now to really think clearly about the prophecy and everything. "I think so. I mean, it's the only thing we've got at this stage," a thought suddenly struck him. "Hang on; now that I think about it, the prophecy says how but doesn't say when Voldemort will be defeated."

"You're right," Dawn said weakly, as she brought one of her hands up to her forehead and pushed up from the table and paced across the room. "What if I have to spend years hiding with the baby from Voldemort and his gang because this is all not supposed to go down until our kid's all grown up?"

Harry stood up and slowly moved to stand not far behind her. "You won't have to hide alone, Dawn," he said strongly, almost surprising himself.

Dawn turned to face him. "No, Harry," she said softly. "We may not have had a choice in this and everything's already decided for me, but you still have a choice and don't have to change any plans because of this," she motioned at her stomach. "What about Ginny-"

Harry shook his head as he cut her off. "I care about Ginny," he paused; Dawn dropped her head for a moment. "But I think her feelings are stronger for me than mine are for her... I'm beginning to realise that maybe I care about her more as a friend, or a sister even... she deserves better," Dawn could tell from the look on his face that he was having an epiphany. "I, uh, won't lie and say that this isn't still scaring the hell out of me... but I'm not going anywhere, Dawn."

Dawn felt her eyes prickle with tears, stepping forward to pull Harry into a hug, catching him off-guard before he eventually returned it. They stood there for several moments before Dawn suddenly pulled away, bending over and putting a hand to her stomach as she winced in pain.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" Harry panicked.

It was only a few seconds before Dawn felt relief and everything felt normal again and she stood back upright. In the meantime, Harry was still looking at her anxiously.

"That was weird, it felt like someone was sticking a hundred needles into my stomach from the inside," she studied her abdomen and looked up again. "Everything feels fine now."

Harry didn't look convinced. "Maybe we should go see Madam Pomfrey."

Dawn quickly brushed it off. "Seriously, I think it's okay. I did faint a few days before Christmas but she told me it was because of all the stress - that was when Giles found out... she said I just need to take it easy-"

Before she could finish talking, she noticed a long, four-seater couch appear behind Harry, he turned to see what she was staring at.

"It is the Room of Requirement," Harry stated when he saw Dawn's look of amazement, assuming that Dawn had been thinking that she needed somewhere to relax. "You should sit down."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Dawn responded, unzipping her knee-high boots as she sat at one end of the couch and made herself comfortable by swinging around and bringing her feet up onto the couch.

Harry followed suit, seating himself at the other end so that they were facing each other. The couch was a perfect length so that they could both stretch their legs out if they needed. Once they were settled, a silence fell over them for a moment.

"I wonder if Buffy's got a search party tearing apart the castle by now..."

"If anything, I'm sure she's probably got a bounty out for me," Harry joked as Dawn slid down the couch so that the back of her head was resting against the arm. Harry got slightly alarmed when Dawn smiled with tight lips at his joke and he could tell this wasn't from amusement. "That's something she would do, isn't it?"

Dawn finally gave a small laugh, reminding Harry that her smile was one of the things that initially drew him towards her back in London. _I'd like to think that it wasn't all the prophecy's doing_, he thought.

"That's the thing," Dawn piped up, breaking him from his thoughts. "No one else knows what happened that night - that some force wanted us to fulfil the prophecy. So Buffy will be so pissed at me and probably really hates you right about now."

"Brilliant..." Harry trailed off, moving the side of his head to rest against the back of the couch.

As they continued to talk, the two teens found their eyes becoming heavy, both exhausted from having a very sleepless night previously. It didn't take long before they both drifted off for much needed sleep, and somehow sleep was much easier just being in each other's presence, lying just metres from each other.

* * *

><p>Hermione hadn't hesitated in pulling Ron away from the madness that Ginny, Dawn and Harry had left in their wake, many of their fellow Gryffindors turning looking towards them for more clarification on what they'd just heard. Of course, they were just in the dark as everyone else, so they decided to find Harry but before they'd left Hermione had glanced up towards the newcomers at the staff table, seeing that they were glancing at each other with mixed looks of shock and horror.<p>

When outside in the Entrance Hall, Hermione motioned for Ron to follow her towards the staircase before she stopped on the second step and turned to Ron and could see that he was just as bewildered by the whole thing.

"W-what was that?" Ron stammered to which Hermione gave a shrug. "That was what Harry's been keeping from us... he and Dawn... and Dawn's pregnant?"

Hermione brought a hand up to her cheek as she shook her head in disbelief. "That would explain his strange behaviour, but when and where did this all happen?"

"Maybe it's been going on for a while, he has been acting weird for a while now..." Ron suggested, as Hermione looked like she'd been struck with a thought.

"Yes, you're right," she exclaimed. "It doesn't appear that Dawn is showing yet though, so when could this have happened? Harry has been with us the entire time since the start of August, before that he was at the Burrow with us and I think that's too long ago..."

Ron shrugged. "Doesn't make sense to me, he obviously never snuck off when we looking for those horcruxes either."

Hermione frowned, feeling like they almost had some sort of explanation but they weren't quite there yet.

"We've gotta find Harry," she declared, trying to read an expression that crossed Ron's face. "What's wrong, Ron?"

Ron was staring off into the distance with a hint of a smirk on his face. "I can't believe Harry got shagged and didn't tell me."

Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully hit him over the back of the head. "I think there are more important issues right now," they then heard some loud talking spilling out into the Entrance Hall and looked to see Lupin and the others making their way towards the Staff Room. "Quick, let's go check the Common Room and if he isn't there then maybe we can use the Marauder's Map to find him."

Hermione had already raced up the staircase, leaving Ron to stand there muttering "Can't believe he didn't tell me!" before he rushed to catch up.

Once they had checked the Common Room, Ron went up to dormitory to find Harry's map, luckily it was easy to find folded up in amongst Harry's bag. He quickly returned with the map in hand and they wasted no time in unfolding it, solemnly swearing they were up to no good and scanning the map for any sign of their friend. Considering the size of the castle and therefore the map, it took them several minutes before they had any success.

"Ah, there he is! He's with Dawn," Ron exclaimed pointing to a dot labelled 'Harry Potter' currently moving through a seventh floor corridor with a dot beside him labelled 'Dawn Summers'.

"They're not too far from here, wait..." she paused as they watched the dots for a moment; they suddenly came to a halt. Even though it wasn't marked on the map, Hermione immediately recognised where they were. "That's where the Room of Requirement is."

"They seem to be stalling, maybe we can catch them," Ron suggested, to which Hermione nodded and they immediately bolted out of the Portrait Hole and broke out into a run in the corridor.

Having much longer legs than Hermione, Ron was able to reach the spot first, only to see the door disappearing into the wall before he could properly get there. Hermione rounded the corner seconds later, huffing and puffing.

"We're... too... late," Ron said in between deep exhales.

"Damn," Hermione as she bent over to rest her hands on her legs, taking a moment to get her breath back. "...I suppose they're going there to talk or maybe hide out from everyone."

"They could be doing something else," Ron proposed with a cheeky grin.

"Seriously, Ronald!"

"I don't know if you're gonna find her, Buff, it's a pretty big castle," Xander pointed out as he and Buffy walked briskly through a random corridor, not exactly sure where they were at this point.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I'm not stopping until I find her... how could she lie to me all this time, Xand?"

Xander turned to look at the slayer straight in the face. "I know you're angry and everything but if we're being honest here, she was probably pretty freaked out. Sometimes it can be hard being the bringer of bad news to you."

Buffy briefly glared at him. "I don't care how freaked or scared she was, she's looked into my eyes for almost six months now and lied. Not to mention, I'm the one who should be there to protect her... and now this evil Voldemort dude is going to be after her, and if she'd told me earlier, I would've taken her as far away from this place as possible!" Buffy explained, her anger building again.

Xander put up his hands defensively as they continued down the corridor. "All I'm saying is give her a chance to explain before you jump down her throat."

A silence fell between them as they rounded a corner together, noticing two teenagers, who'd yet to notice the older pair, walking towards them. Their attention was captivated by a slightly tattered, brown piece of thick parchment, each of them holding one side as they stared down at it. Buffy quickly recognised them as the redhead and brunette she'd met earlier down at breakfast. She put an arm out to stop Xander in his tracks as the two approached them, still yet to look up.

They were also speaking quietly to each other but Buffy and Xander could make out some of the things they were saying. "... Can't just sit around... wait for them to come out... the map will tell us when they appear," Buffy heard the brunette, whose name she recalled was Hermione, say.

The redhead boy was the first to look up, finally noticing that they weren't alone in the corridor, he nudged his companion and she also glanced up at the slayer and her friend. She said something under her breath to the parchment and quickly folded it up.

"Hey there!" Xander greeted way too enthusiastically as the two pairs stood directly opposite each other. "I'm Xander," he offered a handshake to both teens.

"Ron," the redhead interjected as he accepted the handshake. "This is Hermione."

Xander looked over to Buffy next to him. "I think I saw you meet these guys earlier, didn't I, Buff?"

He noticed Buffy give a stiff nod, debating something in her head. Hermione and Ron also looked awkward, and then Xander realised that this witch and wizard were friends of the guy in the prophecy and who they'd just found out actually did impregnate Dawn. With this thought in mind, he kept an uneasy eye on the blonde beside him.

"Uh, we were just looking for Harry, actually," Ron eventually said, the girl beside him giving him a fierce look.

"We're looking for Dawn, you haven't seen her?" Hermione shook her head when Buffy asked; meanwhile the slayer studied the item in Hermione's hands. "I thought I heard you say that was a map."

Hermione nodded hesitantly. "I could tell from earlier that you had no idea about Dawn and Harry, but you must know that this has come completely out of the blue for us too."

Xander and Buffy shared a look, only just realising that Harry's best friends didn't know about the prophecy.

"Well, if you see my sister, could you let us know?" Buffy asked politely. "They're both in a lot of danger, and that's after I nearly murder them when I see them, so if you have any way of finding them..."

It was Ron and Hermione's turn to share a look, Ron was about to say something before Hermione tried to silence him, however in the end he continued on regardless.

"We know where they both are," Ron began as Hermione sighed. "Well, if Harry's in danger," he justified to her. "Basically that map showed us where they went but we can't get into that room."

"Where is it?" Buffy was quick to ask.

* * *

><p>Harry's eyes fluttered open and the first thing he thought was – <em>How long have I been asleep?<em> He went to adjust his skewed glasses, only then noticing this was hindered by a weight against his right arm and then looked down to see that whilst he'd slept he'd shuffled so that the left side of his back was against the back of the couch. This had created enough room for Dawn to squeeze alongside him, her body turned towards his and her head resting at the top of his chest.

The last thing he remembered was struggling to keep his eyes open as Dawn tiredly babbled on about something that had to do with her sister Buffy and Halloween costumes. He must have been in a deep sleep because he certainly didn't wake when Dawn had moved from the other end of the couch. However, as he stared down her peaceful, sleeping face, he was conscious of the fact that he didn't mind at all. His eyes were then drawn downward to the small bump of her stomach that was pressed gently against him.

He began to move his left hand towards her abdomen, as if touching it would help make it all real. In hesitation, his hand momentarily hovered just inches from it, and then he'd finally plucked up the courage to touch it when Dawn's body jolted suddenly, quickly causing him to withdraw his hand at the very last minute. Seconds later, her eyes opened groggily and he watched as she gained her bearings, finally looking up to see him staring down at her. She jumped up from the couch hastily, only to get a head rush from the sudden movement and she had to sit back down again, at her original end of the couch.

Her cheeks coloured pink and she spluttered out. "S-sorry, I don't remember moving at all – I must have been really out of it!"

Finally being able to move properly, Harry sat up. "Don't worry, I didn't even notice because I was fast asleep too... I feel loads better now though."

Dawn exhaled and smiled. "I didn't realise how tired I was, felt like we slept for hours," she paused as she checked her watch. "Holy shit! We did sleep for hours – it's like a quarter after three!"

Harry's eyes widened as he checked the time for himself to see whether he heard her correctly. "Half the castle is probably looking for us by now."

"Yeah, we should go, but are you ready to face the music?" Dawn asked standing up.

It took only a moment for Harry to give a strong nod, also moving to a standing position. "Like I said earlier, we're in this together."

Dawn reached out and gave his non-injured hand a squeeze of appreciation, as their eyes connected for a moment before they both moved towards the door.


	13. When The Arguments Get Into Full Swing

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: This one has been a long haul, one of the hardest chapters to get right thus far, hope you like it. Thanks to everyone for making a much better effort with the reviews, it can just get depressing when you see these badly written stories, with so many grammar mistakes and OOCs and they're getting more reviews than you :( So keep it up!

Also, something I've been forgetting to include in a note for a while now, when someone pointed out I should, obviously because I've changed the DH timeline, Voldemort's name isn't taboo in this story, so they can say it safely.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Thirteen – When the Arguments Get Into Full Swing<span>

"Get away from my sister!" Buffy cried out the moment she spotted the appearance of the two teens, charging towards them at an alarming rate.

Dawn stepped forward, blocking her sister's path should she want to harm Harry at all. However, this action only drew the attention towards her stomach, causing Buffy to come to an abrupt halt.

"Oh my god, Dawn!" she exclaimed, half-shocked, half-angered at the sight. In the meantime, Xander, Hermione and Ron all stared in disbelief.

"So it is true," Hermione declared now that she had the proof right in front of her eyes, as she looked from Dawn to Buffy and finally to Harry.

Harry moved to stand beside Dawn, simultaneously sighing and nodding. Buffy saw this as an opportunity to lunge forward, furiously grabbing a fistful of his jacket. Xander, Ron and Hermione all stepped forward in extreme alert, ready to stop anything physical from transpiring; meanwhile Harry tried to stand his ground, however intimidating the blonde slayer may be, by not fighting the hold and standing up taller.

"What _the hell_ were you two thinking?" Buffy yelled, shifting her angry gaze between the two teens in front of her. "You didn't even know each other... and what, you just jumped into bed!?" she turned her attention towards her sister, releasing the hold on Harry. "Dawn! If she was here, what would mom think? What possessed you to just throw away all those morals she taught you?"

"Funny you should say possessed," Harry said quietly to himself, but the others heard and looked at him curiously.

"Well she's not!" Dawn quickly interjected in anger, her sister's words cut into her like a knife. "And like you're the one to talk, Buffy. You were seventeen too when you slept with Angel... and let's not forget - he's a _vampire_!"

"Sweet Merlin," Ron exclaimed quietly in the background, next to an equally stunned Hermione.

"No, _don't_ even start to bring Angel into this!" Buffy yelled eyes wide with anger. "At least Angel being a vampire meant I didn't go and get myself _pregnant_! Dawn, you should've known bet-"

Dawn had already had enough lecturing and stepped up to her sister. "Hey! Don't you think you're being a hypocrite, talking about morals and 'you should've known' and all – I mean, with the amount of guys you've jumped from bed to bed with, you obviously don't have any!"

Dawn instantly felt the sting before hearing the echo of Buffy's hand striking her cheek. She felt her eyes immediately water, not just from the physical pain from the slap.

"HEY!" Harry instantly cried out, stepping towards the slayer with his hands balled up into fists.

"NO – DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON YOU, WONDER-BOY!" Buffy screamed at him, her eyes as narrow as slits.

At this point in time, Lupin had come along the corridor towards the group in alarm with a deep frown, although in the commotion of everything, everyone barely registered his arrival. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione stood their unsure of what to do, while Xander was quick to grab Buffy by the shoulders and pull her back, luckily she didn't resist him otherwise there would have been no stopping her, without magical intervention at least.

"Okay everyone, let's just take a deep breath..." he tried to say calmly.

Harry ignored Xander's suggestion, he took one look at Dawn standing there with a hand on her stinging cheek with tears flowing and he couldn't just stand idly by and do nothing.

"She's your sister!" he exclaimed angrily. "How can you do that to family? If I still had any family, I know I certainly wouldn't treat them like that and I would-"

Dawn put a hand on Harry's shoulder to stop him mid-rant. "Harry, forget about it," she then stormed away from the group and walked down the corridor, stopping briefly to glare at her sister before she turned the corner. "You're wondering why I didn't tell you for so long, Buffy? Well congratulations – you've just proved my point... Oh and by the way, if you'd taken the time to _actually_ talk to me rather than screaming and lecturing me from square one, you probably would've found out that we think the prophecy influenced our actions that night!"

She disappeared around the corner with a loud, echoing sob. Harry could feel eyes on him as he went to follow her; however, he was quickly stopped by Xander.

"Buffy, I think you should go," Xander suggested. "You guys really need to _talk_ properly, try not to give her a hard time, Buff."

The anger had quickly washed from Buffy's face, replaced with a look of deep remorse. She certainly regretted slapping Dawn, knowing that she didn't deserve it no matter what she had said or done. She was also replaying her sister's parting words, if Dawn wasn't completely responsible for all of this happening, she really had to try and mend things between them immediately.

"You're right, Xand," Buffy said with a nod, turning to Harry before she left. "But you and I are going to talk later."

Harry met her gaze but didn't say anything in return before she'd turned and rushed down the corridor to race after Dawn. Once Buffy was out of sight, Xander walked over and gave Harry a sympathetic pat on the back.

"Summer's women... this is just a taste of what you've gotten yourself into, buddy," Xander half-joked, but Harry could see in his eyes that he was deadly serious.

There was a shell-shocked silence left in the sister's wake, however moments later Hermione was the first to break it. "Harry," she said timidly, her voice growing as she spoke on. "What's going on? What's this prophecy?"

Lupin interrupted before he could respond. "Everything alright, Harry?" he questioned, and Harry gave a stiff nod. "Then we'll leave you three to talk," he eyed Xander, who gave an affirmation nod. "However, as soon as you are done, it is important that we all meet down in the Staff Room... I'll see you down there soon."

All three friends simply nodded in response, their gazes firmly planted on each other and not even bothering to watch the pair leave. Once they were alone, Hermione walked over to summon the Room of Requirement once again. Ron and Harry wordlessly followed her inside, to find a completely plain room, but functional enough to carry out their conversation without being overheard by any passersby.

"Harry, mate," Ron jumped in before Hermione could. "Why didn't you tell us any of this?"

Harry sighed. "Well, that's probably because I didn't know about most of it before last night!"

"But you knew that you'd shagged Dawn before last night and didn't tell either of us," Ron pointed out.

Hermione disapproved of Ron's approach but agreed with his point and nodded at this. "When did this happen, Harry? It was obviously quite a few months ago, that's not hard to figure out."

Harry took in a deep breath and adjusted his glasses. "You're right... I met Dawn when we were back at that run-down hotel that we stayed at after Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Hermione looked like she was putting together a puzzle in her head, understanding slowly dawning on her face as each piece was falling into place, and meanwhile Ron was still trying to figure out all the details in his head.

"I get it now," Hermione exclaimed. "You disappeared while Ron and I were out of the hotel gathering supplies... and you were still gone when we got back, it scared the living daylight out both of us! So where did you go to meet Dawn?"

"Uh, I didn't actually leave the hotel at all that day, if that's any consolation," Harry admitted. "...Dawn and her sister were staying there as well - I met her out in the corridor and we went downstairs and talked for a while, and then... well, you know."

Ron couldn't hide a mischievous grin; however Hermione had the opposite reaction and frowned. "That doesn't sound like you at all, Harry, you barely knew her at all," Harry nodded in agreement to this. "And what about you and Ginny?"

This was enough to wipe any remnants of a smile from Ron's face, obviously reminding him that his sister was also involved in all of this mess and was especially hurting, as displayed from the incident downstairs. He stepped forward towards Harry with a stern look.

"Yeah, what about my sister?" Ron inquired seriously.

Although at the time Ron was annoyed at Harry when he broke up with Ginny, causing her some heartache, he did understand Harry's motivations behind the decision. However, right up until a few hours ago, both he and Hermione had assumed that Harry and Ginny would get back together as soon as they'd defeated Voldemort.

Harry rubbed a hand over his face to help relieve some of the stress he was feeling right now. "Ugh, well it's not that simple now, is it?" he snapped a little too harshly. "I care about Ginny and of course I don't want to hurt her, but I can't exactly turn my back on Dawn now. Especially with this bloody prophecy..."

Upon hearing this, Ron still felt completely torn between being sympathetic for his best friend and look out for his little sister's best interests. He then registered Harry's finally statement and was made curious by this. "What's this prophecy everyone keeps mentioning? Is this different from the one that made Voldemort come after you and your parents?"

"Obviously this is a different one, Ron," Hermione jumped in, her eyes widening as she recalled what was said earlier. "Dawn said before that the prophecy affected you both back at the hotel... Harry, is this baby a part of this new prophecy – was Dawn supposed to get pregnant?"

Harry quickly nodded and Hermione gave a dramatic gasp, while Ron looking equally flabbergasted, so Harry decided to get to the punch-line to put them out of their misery, so he reached into his pocket to produced a scrunched up piece of parchment and wordlessly handed it to his two friends. Ron leaned over Hermione's shoulder, while she stood there and straightened out the prophecy and began reading it, mumbling the words under her breath as she did so. Hermione was first to finish, followed moments later by Ron and they both stared up at Harry.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried out sympathetically, now understanding Harry's pain and enveloping him in a warm hug.

"Why is Dawn referred to as 'The Key'?" Ron asked, giving Harry a pat on the shoulder as Hermione pulled away.

Hermione pointed to the prophecy still in her grasp. "Ron's got a good point there," Ron smiled proudly. "There's got to be a reason this child is going to be so powerful, something that Dawn is bringing to the genetic pool... I mean, it could be the fact that she's the sister of a slayer, but that almost doesn't seem like enough."

Harry realised then that he'd been so caught up in everything else, that he hadn't really considered Hermione's point. "I hadn't thought about that, actually," after he pondered it for a moment, he ended up deciding that asking Dawn directly later on would be the best way find out.

"What about Dawn, what does she think about all of this?" Hermione asked, knowing that she definitely didn't envy being in the girl's position.

"Well, we haven't really had that much time to talk, really," Harry answered honestly.

Hermione looked at him unconvinced. "Ron and I saw you both on the map when you went into the Room of Requirement; you were in there for hours – weren't you both talking then?"

"Well, actually, we did talk but not for long," Harry began sheepishly, and then hurried to explain himself when he saw the looks on both friend's faces. "We both fell asleep – I was exhausted! I obviously didn't get much sleep last night after I talked with Dawn, she was probably the same."

Ron looked thoughtful. "So where do we go from here? What about the horcruxes?"

Harry shrugged, still feeling completely lost and confused with everything that had happened. "I don't know, I feel like we should still be doing what Dumbledore asked me to do... we should find the horcruxes."

"Things have changed now, haven't they?" Hermione added, looking uncertain. "You can't exactly just run off again and abandon Dawn now though."

Harry shook his head in frustration. "Don't you think I know that, Hermione?" he said harshly, attempting to calm himself down when he saw Hermione's hurt look, he took a few steps away and stared at the floor. "I told Dawn about the horcruxes."

"What?" both Ron and Hermione exclaimed simultaneously.

Harry put his hands up defensively. "Let me explain - it's not as if we can't trust her or anything, she brought up the valid point, that if Voldemort is now going to be also coming after her, she needs to know what she's in for."

"That might be true, Harry, but even though she's part of this prophecy, we barely know her or know if she won't intentionally or unintentionally tell someone else about it. Dumbledore didn't want anyone to know about the horcruxes for a reason." Hermione jumped in.

Harry shook his head sternly. "I don't care, Hermione. Dawn's a part of this too now, she deserves to know everything. It's my decision."

Hermione sighed and a silence fell between them for a moment, she then proceeded to check her watch. "Well, we should finish this conversation later - Lupin made it sound like whatever's going on downstairs is really important, probably to discuss the prophecy further."

The other two nodded and she was the first to move for the door, Ron hesitated to look at Harry beside him.

"Seriously, you'd better talk with Ginny soon, Harry," he ordered, making Harry think how unusual it was to hear a demand coming from him rather than Hermione, but he knew that Ron was right.

* * *

><p>Dawn's hands shook, she was still that angry, as she walked down a seventh floor corridor. She just knew that her sister would react that way - yes, she did make it worse by keeping the pregnancy from her for so long, but Buffy always had to jump on her high horse as if she'd never made a mistake before. As she walked further along, she started to feel guilty for running off and leaving Harry to deal with the mess of everything... twice, and the sudden thought of him made her notice that the unexplainable, comforting feeling of being near Harry had washed away.<p>

She began to feel slightly light-headed so she slowed her pace considerably, and only a matter of moments later, she heard someone's calls echoing down the long corridor.

"Dawn, please wait!" she recognised Buffy's voice immediately.

She considered her options then and there; firstly, she could stop and see what her sister wanted to say to her and risk getting into another screaming match, or secondly, she could try her best to make a getaway. Considering how angry she still was, she went for the latter option and started down a nearby staircase without looking back, although she knew this was futile due to Buffy's slayer speed but she wanted to try. Before she'd even reached the bottom of the staircase, she felt Buffy's hand on her shoulder.

"Dawn, listen," Buffy said in a voice in complete contrast to the previous conversation, her voice was soft and regretful. "I'm really sorry about before – I definitely shouldn't have slapped you… Please, just talk to me."

Dawn stopped and spun around with teary eyes. "It's not as if I wanted any of this to happen," was all she managed before her anger was soon overshadowed by a deep sorrow.

Within seconds, Buffy had enveloped her in a strong hug, having a height advantage from standing a step higher than Dawn, so the brunette rested her head on her shoulder. Dawn just cried it out for a while, Buffy silently holding her sister there on the staircase. After all these months of secrecy, it finally felt good for Dawn to have Buffy be there to comfort her, although a large part of her still strongly wished that it could be her mother instead.

When Dawn had settled down, Buffy pulled away and looked down at her. "Dawnie, I am so sorry! You're right, I shouldn't have been so quick to react when all you needed was me to be there for you... but I really wished you'd told me when you found out."

Deciding that they couldn't stand on the staircase all day, Buffy began to guide Dawn down with a soft hand on her back, and from there they kept walking.

"I'm so scared, Buffy," Dawn admitted, placing a hand on her stomach.

Buffy nodded with an equally worried look. "So am I..." she stared into the distance for a moment. "What happened that night, Dawn?"

Dawn sighed and went to lean against a nearby stone windowsill. "Come on, I'm pretty sure you know all about that stuff."

"You know what I mean," Buffy quickly replied with a cross of her arms. "...Please tell me."

Dawn nodded. _Telling her everything could only help her understand where you're coming from better, so don't hold back_, a wise voice told her.

She cleared her throat, making eye contact with the slayer. "After you and Will left that afternoon and I chilled for a bit, I decided to go for a walk and-"

"That's where you met Harry," Buffy jumped in, earning an annoyed look from Dawn. "Okay, okay – I won't butt in again!"

"Anyway, I came back to the hotel and had an attack of the clumsy in the hall and Harry was my knight in shining armour. After we introduced ourselves and everything, we went downstairs and got some tea and talked for a bit - I thought he was really nice. Well, he then walked me back up to my room, I think his was not far down from ours or something, I'm not sure where though - he didn't really say-"

Buffy looked like she impatiently was hanging on every word. "Don't get side-tracked, Dawn. I thought you said before that the prophecy influenced you both... what happened next?"

Dawn hesitated with a small blush. "Yeah, I did say that. At this point, we were both in our right minds, but then when Harry kissed me..."

"The prophecy made you act like a prison inmate on an overdue conjugal visit?" Buffy cut in, earning a horrified look from Dawn.

"What?! And you wonder why I don't tell you anything?" Dawn said in an exasperated voice. "And - NO! Well, it wasn't like what we were doing didn't even cross my mind at any point, but I never would have actually _done_ anything like that... but somehow we couldn't stop," she paused, deep in thought for a moment, trying to find the right words to explain the situation. "You know what it was like? It was like being drunk enough to lose control of your actions but not drunk enough to still know in your head that you're doing something incredibly stupid but can't do anything to stop yourself."

Buffy looked horror-struck, taking a moment to respond. "That was your first time, right?" she asked awkwardly.

Dawn turned red. "Of course, I had to continue the awesome track record of my love life - first kiss to a vampire, and then my first time to some famous wizard, but under the influence of a prophecy and, oh, I get knocked up from it!... Ugh, I hate that I had no choice in it! I never thought it would happen like that... Or that _this _would happen," she finished, motioning towards her stomach.

Buffy looked sympathetically at her sister, moving to prop herself against the same windowsill that Dawn had. A silence fell between them before Buffy spoke again.

"Hey! How do you know what it's like to be drunk? Who let you drink?" she demanded, suddenly realising what she had said moments earlier.

_Oops!_ Dawn thought as she recalled the time right after the collapse of the Hellmouth, while they were still dealing with strong grief, Xander had bought her some vodka and the two of them had drunk the night away miserably, sharing stories about Anya and Spike.

"Doesn't matter," she quickly responded, racking her brain with a topic change in an attempt to distract her sister, lucky for her she didn't need one.

Willow suddenly appeared from the staircase that was just down to their left and approached them tentatively, looking like she was expecting the two sisters to be arguing up a storm. They could see the visible relief on her face when she noticed that everything appeared to be relatively calm.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you guys, you're needed down in the Staff Room," as she stood in front of them, she suddenly noticed the presence of Dawn's pregnant stomach. "Oh my god, Dawnie!"

"Yep, it's all true - I'm knocked up with the prophecy baby," Dawn said in a joking voice in an attempt to settle her discomfort, as she pulled at her jacket.

Willow turned her attention towards Buffy, waiting and expecting her to make a comment on the situation, knowing very well she would have a strong opinion.

"Dawn slept with Harry that first night in London, while we were catching up with Giles," Buffy pointed out, almost casually.

This completely threw Willow off and she frowned, baffled by her friend's unexpected reaction. "I thought you'd be angrier about that, Buffy."

"Oh, _I'm angry_ alright - just not at Dawn anymore," she stopped herself to get an approving nod from Dawn before she continued. "She thinks the prophecy made them go all the way so that she would get pregnant."

Willow had a mystified expression. "Wow, that is pretty weird, even for us Scoobys... so that's why you're not wanting to kill her right now."

Buffy gave a swift nod and then something dawned on her, she turned to Dawn. "I can't believe I didn't notice the signs that you were pregnant – we did see you throwing up quite a few times!"

"Ugh, please don't remind me," Dawn said scrunching up her face. "I'm happy that's over!"

Willow then pointed her right thumb out towards the staircase she'd come from. "Uh, we should probably get down there."

The two other girls nodded in acknowledgment and they didn't delay in going downstairs towards the Entrance Hall, finally starting to really be able to find their way around the castle without assistance.

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><p>Ron, Harry and Hermione had just descended the stairs leading into the Entrance Hall and were walking towards the Staff Room, when Harry put an arm out to stop them. They both turned to give him curious stares; however, he was too preoccupied focusing on an odd feeling that had just become apparent to him. He had no idea how to describe it, but if he had to he would say it felt a warm, summer sun had just come out from behind the clouds, radiating its comforting heat down on him. This was obviously strange, well because he was obviously indoors, and it was the middle of winter. He stood there revelling in the sensation, not daring to move and lose the feeling.<p>

Seconds later, they turned and saw Dawn, Buffy and a redhead, he didn't know, approaching them from the staircase and he concluded that the feeling he was experiencing was connected to Dawn's proximity, realising that a part of him felt missing when she wasn't around. This terrified him because it had only been 24 hours since the brunette had been back in his life,_ Maybe this has something to do with the baby being special_, he thought. Meanwhile, he had still said nothing and Hermione was looking at him with inquisitive eyes, wondering how Harry knew that the three women were coming before he'd even seen them, however Harry continued to watch the approaching women.

"Hey," Dawn greeted with a smile, something he was glad to see after the last time he'd seen her.

"Is everything alright?" he finally spoke up, cautiously looking between Dawn and Buffy.

"Everything's peachy, for now," Buffy chimed in. "But we're still having that talk later."

Harry nodded reluctantly, hoping that when that time came around, he would be having that conversation with this current relaxed Buffy, as opposed to the irate, nearly-homicidal Buffy he'd seen upstairs earlier.

The redhead standing next to Buffy was staring at him. "Hey, I'm Willow," she introduced with a friendly handshake and Harry was relieved that this stranger wasn't going to yell at him as well. "You must be Harry."

He nodded, and then introduced Ron and Hermione beside him.

"Well, we better get in there," Willow said. "Everyone's waiting."

She didn't stall in entering the Staff Room, Buffy quickly following behind. Meanwhile, him, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other and wondered "Who's everyone?", before they moved towards the doors. Ron and Hermione started moving first, leaving him to naturally fall into step with Dawn.

"Probably just Giles and the others and Lupin," Dawn said hopefully, although looking slightly unnerved as she looked at him.

She couldn't have been more wrong, when they entered the Staff Room (where Harry had been once in Third Year) to find a huge gathering of people, and all conversation had ceased with the arrival of the newcomers. He looked around, a couple of faces that he didn't recognise were talking to Buffy and Willow, so he assumed they were part of that group, however the other people he knew quite well. It appeared that pretty much the whole Order had gathered at Hogwarts, as well as the Weasley's, including the twins, Bill and Fleur, and Ginny, who looked like she was trying desperately to make herself unseen at the back of the group.

Mrs. Weasley immediately jumped up from her seat with a "Ronald Weasley! Where have you been with no word for months?" and gathered Ron into a lingering embrace, relieved to see that he was safe after all this time, the rest of the family followed while she moved to also hug Hermione. She looked Harry's way and came over to him.

"Harry, dear," she exclaimed, pulling him into a warm embrace. "It's good to see you. But look at you three - you all look like you haven't eaten properly in months!"

When she pulled away, she noticed Dawn standing there awkwardly, who looked unsure because there were so many people she didn't know, and also apprehensive of how these strangers were going to react to her. Molly smiled at the brunette and looked between Dawn and Harry for a moment.

"You must be Dawn," she said as her husband appeared beside her. "I'm Molly Weasley and this is my husband Arthur."

"Nice to meet you, you're obviously Ginny and Ron's parents," Dawn replied shyly.

Mr. Weasley's eyes lingered on Dawn's stomach for a moment. "So the prophecy is true then!"

"_Harry_," Mrs. Weasley scolded when she followed her husband's gaze. "I know the Dursley's generally didn't treat you very nicely, but didn't they at least give you 'the talk'?"

Harry wanted to drop dead from embarrassment, especially with so many others nearby watching the exchange. "Uh," he awkwardly stubbled out some incoherent words, looking to see that Dawn had also turned slightly pink but looked thoroughly entertained by his discomfort.

Taking his muddled response as a 'no', Molly proceeded to turn to Arthur. "Perhaps we should have thought to include Harry when you talked to Ron and Ginny a few years ago."

Harry felt the heat of embarrassment, radiating from his cheeks, getting stronger by the minute. He heard Dawn giggle beside him as Mr. Weasley spoke up. "Well, Harry if I could have a moment of your time later, we should have a talk," _Great, another one to add to the list,_ a voice in Harry's head groaned. "Not 'the talk', of course," Arthur added with slight amusement.

They could hear Ron nearby sniggering loudly at the whole exchange, causing the two Weasley's to move back towards their youngest son, and Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley start the lecture with him. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, I hope you behaved yourself while you've been away!"

Harry was happy to have the focus off him, turning to glare at a still-amused Dawn and she put up her hands defensively. "Hey, it's nice to be the one out of the firing line for once! Besides, you look really cute when you're embarrassed."

Both teens silently stared at each other at Dawn's admission; however they were quickly interrupted by the appearance of Fred and George either side of Harry.

"Harry, mate," Fred smirked from his left.

"Didn't know you had it in you," George finished with a playful punch on his right arm and a knowing wink.

Harry was quick to roll his eyes at the pair; however their attention quickly diverted towards the pregnant teenager.

"Hello there, you must be the girl who's stuck with this one now," George began, motioning towards Harry. "I'm Fred," he introduced, then pointing to his twin. "And that's George."

Harry opened his mouth to correct them but Fred was fast to silence him before he could. Meanwhile, Dawn smiled at the twins and examined the pair with interest, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she looked between the two.

"Nice to meet you, George," she replied looking at George, then moving her gaze towards the second Weasley twin. "And Fred, you obviously belong to that big redhead clan over there," she said cheekily, pointing towards the Weasley group.

Both Weasley's showed looks of surprise. "Whoa, how did she know?" one said to the other.

"A magician never reveals her secrets," Dawn responded with a grin, while Harry watched the whole exchange, his eyes never leaving Dawn.

"Magician... that's one of those muggles that pretends they can do magic, right?" Fred asked and Dawn quickly nodded with a laugh.

Mrs. Weasley came back over. "Alright, that's enough you two! Remus and Minerva want to start the meeting," she said as she began shooing the twins back to their seats.

Before they left, George leant down to say quietly in Harry's ear. "Harry, never let that one go."

Harry pretended he didn't know what he was talking about and looked to Dawn questioningly while everyone was starting to take their places. "How did you know?" he asked.

She sniggered. "Remus told me all about what the Order did to rescue you from your Aunt and Uncle's last summer and what happened. I also heard about the pestering Weasley twins from Ginny..." she trailed off.

At the mention of Ginny, they both turned to look for her and saw that she was still at the back of the group, however a brunette woman and older man, that Harry didn't recognise, were talking to her. They all seemed to be having an animated discussion and it looked as though they were having a disagreement.

"Who's that-" Harry began to ask.

"Oh, that's Giles and Faith, she's another slayer like Buffy," Dawn interjected, and Harry remembered Dawn mentioning a man named Giles, who'd trained her sister, so now he had a face to put with the name.

He looked over at Dawn to try and read her current expression, he knew that she had every right to be angry at Ginny for the earlier incident, but she didn't appear to be that upset. He was about to bring the subject up, however they didn't get to say another word before Buffy called out and motioned for Dawn to go over and sit with her, so Harry joined Ron and Hermione at one of the tables adjacent to Dawn's group. Everyone else had settled themselves so that they were all situated in a semi-circle arrangement, in order to be able to see everyone else and to leave space for a speaker to stand up the front.

Harry watched as Lupin got up from his seat, it was only then he noticed a very pregnant Tonks sitting there, and he could tell from Lupin's body language that he was not at all happy about his wife's presence, especially when she was so far along with possibly only a month or less to go. Tonks looked over and gave him a small, friendly wave, to which he smiled back.

"Thanks to everyone for coming on such short notice," Lupin began standing up in front of the group, Harry noticed McGonagall standing behind and off to the side. "While we were waiting for those who just joined us, everyone was filled in on the current situation and there are obviously quite a few decisions to be made on where to go from here."

It was McGonagall's turn to speak. "It is safe here at the castle for the time being, we have Miss Rosenberg," she gestured towards Willow for those who didn't know her. "To thank for strengthening the wards, however, it won't be long before the whole Wizarding Community knows the situation and I will soon be inundated with complaints from concerned parents, for while Miss Summers remains here and continues to be a target for Voldemort and his followers, the school is in danger."

Buffy stood angrily. "Dawn _was_ safe here while no one knew about the baby or the prophecy," she then noticed Ginny sitting behind Bill and Fleur and pointed furiously in their direction. "Hey! Where the hell do you get off screaming my sister's private business for everyone to hear? If anything happens to her..."

Several Weasley's jumped up to Ginny's defence calling out various remarks, Molly at the forefront with a step towards the slayer. "That's my daughter you're threatening there!"

Ginny had joined the conversation, and Harry thought he heard her say "You don't have to defend me, mum - I deserve it," but was drowned out by the sudden onslaught of many disgruntled voices from both the Weasley's and the 'Scoobies'. At this point, Harry knew that there was no way he would be able to get his word into the argument if he wanted to, and so he sat there helplessly with the others who weren't getting involved, including Dawn, Fleur, Tonks and Hermione.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Lupin's voice was the loudest that Harry could ever recall hearing, being usually a softly-spoken man; therefore when he yelled, it made a strong impact on the arguing group and everyone silenced immediately and most returned to their seats, excluding Buffy, who was too riled up to sit. "At this point in time Voldemort has probably found out about the prophecy and is planning his next move; therefore we can't sit here and bicker about what has already happened when we need to be doing the same."

"He's right," Dawn interjected strongly out of the blue, appearing as if she was getting aggravated by everyone talking about her and her future as if she wasn't there, while Harry was actually quite used to this. "Uh, hi... I'm Dawn for those I don't know," she suddenly changed to a nervous tone when she noticed so many sets of eyes on her, many she still didn't know. "...But anyway, as far as the 'planning the next move' goes, I don't want anyone to get hurt on account of me."

"Then we need to get you as far away from here as possible!" Buffy said.

Several people in the Staff Room seemed to shake their heads in opposition to this; however the strongest protests came from Dawn and Harry himself, who'd jumped out of his seat calling "NO!" suddenly, startling Hermione beside him. All eyes were on them as they stared at each other in surprise.

"_No_, Dawn," Buffy replied firmly. "I'm gonna do whatever it is to keep you safe and you're gonna go along with it and not argue about it!"

"But isn't she seventeen? She can't do that, can she?" Harry heard Ron ask Hermione from over to his right.

"No, Ron. In the muggle world, people don't become of age until they turn eighteen, so Buffy has every right," Hermione explained, loud enough for others who weren't aware of this fact to hear.

Meanwhile, Dawn had stomped her foot in frustration. "Please, Buffy. I have a strong feeling that there's something that's supposed to happen here," she looked back over at Harry briefly and he got the impression that it was a 'feeling', rather than just any ordinary feeling. "I know that I can't keep putting the school in danger but all I ask for is a few days and then we can go anywhere."

"What sort of feeling, Dawnie?" Willow asked from beside the guy with the eye patch Harry remembered from earlier.

She shrugged in response. "Maybe something to do with the prophecy, I'm not sure."

"The next question is," Giles had spoken up for the first time, looking towards the Order members. "Where can Dawn go into hiding from Voldemort if she can't stay here at Hogwarts?"


	14. When Buffy and Harry Have 'The Talk'

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Phew! It's been a really busy last week or so – sorry I haven't been able to post sooner, but every time I actually did have the opportunity to write, I was just too tired to do so. But I eventually got there. Anyway, this is one of the last times I'm gonna bitch about the poor amount of feedback I'm receiving, but if you're one of the 40+ people tracking this story then please review!

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><p><span>Chapter Fourteen – When Buffy and Harry Have 'The Talk'<span>

The meeting had gone on for several hours; with Dawn feeling overwhelmed by the end, yet there was still so much to figure out. After Giles had raised the all-important question of where else Dawn could safely hide from Voldemort as her pregnancy progressed, the Order had brought up ideas of several places that she obviously hadn't heard of, however Lupin appeared sceptical and immediately dismissed most, as did many of the others. In the end, Lupin and a man named Kingsley, Dawn wasn't sure of his last name, had declared that they would make it their number one priority and Buffy had demanded that she be included in this process, after all this was her sister they were talking about. Before they had all called it a day, McGonagall had agreed to Dawn's request to remain at Hogwarts until the New Year, which was just over two days away.

As everyone began to leave the Staff Room, Dawn looked around for Harry to talk to him privately; however she knew it would have to wait until later when she saw him being pulled aside by Arthur Weasley, obviously to have that talk he'd mentioned earlier. Instead, she looked over and noticed Lupin was having a disagreement with a woman that Dawn immediately registered to be his wife, who was extremely pregnant.

_Holy cow! I'm gonna be huge!_ she thought as it just occurred to her just how much she would grow in the upcoming months.

She looked around to see who else still remained, seeing Buffy and Giles having a heated discussion, with Faith standing there interjecting offhandedly every now and then. Deciding that she didn't want to get involved in that dispute at all, she turned her attention back to the Lupin's. Although she knew it would usually be rude to interrupt a married couple's quarrels, she thought they both looked like they would welcome the interruption and she wanted to officially meet Lupin's wife, so she approached them.

"Wow, how long do you have left?" Dawn asked looking at Lupin's wife's pregnant belly; subconsciously put a hand on her own growing belly. "You must be Remus' wife."

The pair ceased their disagreement immediately and turned towards Dawn, Lupin's wife smiling at her, whilst Lupin looked frustrated that he hadn't got his point across in whatever they were arguing about.

Lupin's wife nodded, Dawn hadn't expected her to be so eccentric-looking with bright pink shoulder-length hair, and she too put a hand on her stomach. "Wotcher, you must be Dawn! So you're the one who's been keeping my husband away these past few months," she said in a serious voice, her eyes narrowing; however, she broke into a giggle when she saw Dawn's worried look. "Only kidding, Remus would have always found something to take up his time, always fighting the good fight. Anyway, I just started my final month, which is why Remus here is fussing over my being here, but just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't be of some use... I'm Tonks, by the way."

"That's an interesting name," Dawn replied with slight confusion, she thought she remembered Lupin calling her something completely different when he'd talked about her.

"Tonks is my maiden name; everyone always calls me that because I hate my first name – Nymphadora," Tonks explained.

"Oh, and that's why you call her Dora," Dawn realised looking at Lupin, who nodded. "And I can see where you're coming from, you're parents obviously didn't think through how other kids could totally come up with some bad nicknames from that."

"You're definitely right about that," Tonks replied with a laugh, Dawn joining in. "How far along are you now?"

"Almost 21 weeks," Dawn replied, laughter fading and being replaced by a feeling of being overwhelmed.

Seeing someone like Tonks pregnant seemed extremely natural, however when she thought about herself and the situation she was in - it terrified her, even if you took the prophecy out of the equation. For one, she was only seventeen and still so young, whilst Tonks had maybe ten years on her. Secondly, Tonks was happily married (well, despite the disagreement she'd just witnessed) and in love, whilst Dawn's pregnancy had basically resulted from a one-night stand and Harry was only around because of the baby, or so that annoying little voice in the back of her head kept telling her.

"Is everything alright, Dawn?" Lupin broke into her reverie, obviously noticing her trepidation.

"I'm... I'm," she stuttered awkwardly, feeling extremely dejected suddenly and struggling with words.

Before she knew it, Tonks had taken her by the shoulders and steered her away to somewhere more private, calling back over her shoulder. "She's fine, dear. We'll just be indulging in some girl-talk over here."

Once they were a few feet away from those who were still around conversing in the Staff Room, Tonks stopped her and looked at her with a knowing look.

"I recognise that look from a mile away," she began with a gentle, understanding voice. "You should know that all pregnant women have a bit of a crisis at some point or another, it's only natural – I've been there. But everything will work out in the end; don't let yourself get too stressed about it."

Dawn gave a nod, her eye line unconsciously drifting across the room to where Harry and Arthur Weasley were in an equally serious discussion. She only became aware of her stare when Harry suddenly looked over and their eyes met for a moment, and then she quickly averted her eyes back to Tonks. Meanwhile, Tonk had silently observed this.

"But that's not the only thing you're worried about, obviously," Tonks added as a statement rather than a question directed at her.

Dawn didn't say anything, basically because she couldn't really sum up into words how she was feeling, although she was quite surprised at how well someone she met appeared to be reading her emotions right now. That lingering feeling that this baby was just a complication for not only her, but for everyone else - especially Harry, was still at the forefront of her mind.

Tonks gave her a sympathetic smile, as if reading her mind once more. "There's no disputing that Harry's a great, honourable guy, but I have a feeling that isn't the only reason he is still here right now," Dawn gave her a confused look. "I saw the unconscious looks he was giving you before... just give everything some time."

"I, uh-" Dawn went to respond, however when she looked back across the room, she saw that Buffy had preyed upon Harry, obviously wanting to finally have that 'talk'. "Crap! I better go stop the hurricane from brewing," she said quickly, already taking a couple of steps but stopping to smile at Tonks. "Thanks - I hope we can talk again soon! It was nice to finally meet you, Tonks."

Tonks didn't seem at all phased by the sudden end of the conversation, looking extremely understanding at Dawn's sudden urgency as she nodded and farewelled her. In the meantime, Dawn had practically sprinted across the Staff Room and reached out for her sister's arm.

"Hey, you don't need to harass him straight away! Don't you think we've all had enough of that for one day?" Dawn cried out, stopping Buffy in her tracks, while Harry looked appreciative of Dawn's efforts.

Buffy effortlessly shook her arm free, looking displeased. "Geez... chill for a second, Dawn. I'll make sure he returns in one piece. I thought it was better to get this out of the way ASAP, so we can get on with figuring everything else out."

Dawn sighed, knowing when Buffy had decided she was doing something, it was extremely hard to talk her out of it, and so she turned to Harry. "We'll talk again later?"

Harry nodded, looking between the two sisters with interest. "Yes, there's still a lot to talk about."

She shot Buffy one more warning look before she nodded and left the pair. She could imagine just how Buffy would be during their discussion, probably throwing quite a few threats of bodily harm to Harry if he did anything that she didn't like, however she wasn't quite sure what Harry would do. Obviously she was still getting to know him, and sometimes it felt like she couldn't quite read him, although when she thought about the hardship he'd suffered in his life thus far, she could understand why he seemed guarded.

It was only when Harry and Buffy had left the now almost-deserted Staff Room, when her stomach gave a protest of hunger that a thought occurred to her – how would she face the rest of the population of Hogwarts now? And how would they react now that they knew that she was carrying Harry Potter's baby? He was a well-known figure in their world, just what sort of attention would that bring her way? The fact that it was well and truly dinnertime now made those thoughts even more relevant, as she pondered whether or not she bring herself to show her face in the Great Hall.

"Is everything alright, Dawn?" Giles' voice tore her attention from her troubles; he was now the only one that remained.

"No, not really," she was about to reveal her predicament, when at last minute she thought against it. _You'll be okay- suck it up, Dawn. You've gotta start facing your problems, _she told herself. "Then again, nothing's been alright lately... I'm kinda getting used to it."

Giles looked concerned and was about to speak up but she cut him off at the pass. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she sighed. "So, what do you think about the Order and this trying to find me somewhere to hide out – is it gonna be safe?"

"If there is one thing you can put your faith in, it is the Order," Giles said confidently with a nod. "The wards they have protecting this castle can easily be replicated anywhere, and the fact that we also have Willow and her magic working with them, the Order is probably the strongest protection you can get from Voldemort."

As Giles said these words, something in Dawn knew that this wasn't necessarily the truth, although Giles didn't know this. It wasn't that the Order couldn't protect her, but there was a notion that something stronger could protect her. For one, already witnessing what the baby could do in its first five months of existence, such as re-casting that concealing spell when she needed it or the strong feelings and intuitions she'd been experiencing, made her think that it could only get stronger as time went on. Secondly, for some reason whenever she was around Harry, it seemed like everything felt right, that and she noticed the baby's influence a lot more - she just felt protected somehow.

The thought of food once again broke through her current thoughts, and she knew that it was time to go to dinner. Dawn and Giles silently exited the Staff Room and then she turned to him. "I'm pretty hungry - I think I need some dinner. My eating patterns have been hectic the last twenty-four hours... If Madam Pomfrey knew, she'd totally get onto my case about it. Are you coming with?" she asked hopefully, not keen on entering the Great Hall alone.

To her dismay, Giles quickly shook his head. "I was hoping that Arthur Weasley was still around the castle somewhere... there's an important matter I needed to discuss with him."

Dawn was intrigued by this, but Giles had already taken several steps away from her with an urgency that stopped her from asking anything on the matter. Instead she nodded understandingly and farewelled him as he scurried up the nearby staircase, leaving her standing next to the enormous doors that lead through to the Great Hall. She could already hear the loud chatter from inside that was spilling out in the Entrance Hall where she stood, and this caused her heart to speed up in nervous anticipation.

She felt the sensation of butterflies in her abdomen as the baby moved and she almost got the feeling that this way the baby's way of urging her to make a move, she was sure that it really needed her to have a decent meal at this stage as well. Putting a hand on stomach, she finally walked over and opened the doors.

The raucous chatter Dawn had heard only moments ago was quick to die down; within seconds a random student had spotted her entrance and announced it to the students nearby. This meant the awareness of her standing there had soon spread like wildfire and then she could feel all eyes on her, accompanied by not-too-subtle whispers from the scandalised school population. Meanwhile, she looked up towards the top table and could see that most who were present in the Staff Room earlier were currently absent, except for McGonagall, and she certainly didn't know the headmistress well enough to go and seek refuge by eating up with her. Dawn wondered where everyone else was, particularly Faith, Willow and Xander, wishing that at least one of them was there at that point in time.

She eventually willed herself forward towards the Gryffindor Table, picking up bits and pieces of what was being said about her situation. From what she could hear of the hushed voices, most of them were just gossiping out of pure curiousity, but as she passed some of the chatter was not as innocent.

"... I don't agree. I think she probably got herself pregnant on purpose," she clearly heard from a dark-haired Gryffindor, maybe a year or two younger than her. "She probably wanted her fifteen minutes of fame for having Harry Potter's baby or she wanted to trap him all for herself... what a slag."

Knowing that couldn't be further from the truth, those words cut through her like a knife. _Is the whole Wizarding World gonna think that? _she panicked, coming to a halt beside the nasty girl and although she wanted to be completely strong and give this girl a piece of her mind or inflict bodily harm, her eyes betrayed her as she felt them welling up.

Regardless, she gazed down at the girl with narrow, furious eyes and felt like screaming at her "Who _the hell_ do you think you are? You don't know anything about me, bitch!" but didn't get the chance, when someone appeared at her side.

"Hi Dawn, come down and sit with us," Hermione said warmly, throwing an unpleasant look in the direction of the horrible Gryffindor girl Dawn had overheard.

Dawn nodded and followed the bushy-haired girl to another section of the Gryffindor table, relief flushing over her that at least she had one person on her side after her fears moments earlier.

"Thanks," Dawn said thankfully as she sat next to Hermione, who was sitting across from Ron and Neville.

"I know everyone is talking about you and Harry right now, but the best thing is to just ignore it." Hermione said with a reassuring smile. "Anyway, that Romilda Vane is completely wretched; don't worry about anything that she has to say, she's got an unhealthy obsession with Harry. After all that business with the love potion last year..."

Dawn had already felt herself start to calm down, as she greeted the two boys and then looked between all three Gryffindors. "What's the deal with the love potion thing?"

Hermione laughed and Ron's ears coloured pink slightly and he took a bit from a cob of corn. "She spent last year following Harry around like a lost puppy, and even went to the trouble of sending him chocolates laced with love potion," he explained in between mouthfuls.

"He didn't eat them, did he?" Dawn asked, horrified.

Ron shook his head as Hermione gave another amused laugh. "No, he didn't... I was fortunate enough to help myself to them first. It was horrible; I acted like a complete, love-sick fool."

Dawn was both amused and infuriated by this, as she glanced down the table to glare at Romilda. "What a bitch! I'll have to keep an eye on that one."

"Where is Harry, by the way?" Neville contributed to the conversation, looking towards the large double doors.

Dawn had been stacking her plate up with many different foods, causing even Ron, who was well-known for his eating abilities, to ogle at the sight. The sudden staring from the three made her feel self-conscious, even though she had a perfectly good reason for needing so much food, so she quickly dropped the serving spoon and looked up at them.

"Buffy's talking to him," she replied, then noticing the apprehension on Ron and Hermione's features. "Oh, please don't judge my sister on earlier; although she has a lot of making it up to me for what happened, and she can get a bit full-on sometimes, that's not usually her. She should be fine talking to Harry now... I hope."

Neville looked confused, Ron gave him a look that said "you don't want to know" and he sighed and turned back towards the girls. "So, Dawn... all of this time you've been here at Hogwarts, you never mentioned you knew Harry..."

Dawn knew that this was one of many more times she'd have difficulty making up explanations of how she came to be carrying the child of Harry Potter, without any mention of a prophecy being involved. Luckily in this case, she was eternally grateful for the help from both Ron and Hermione to fabricate a story; especially when she barely knew the two and they certainly didn't owe her anything. For the rest of the dinner, Dawn actually began to successfully tune out the stares and whispers and she began to discover exactly why Harry valued his friends so much as she talked with them some more.

* * *

><p>Buffy, knowing that Harry knew the ins and outs of Hogwarts much better than her, had decided he probably knew where they could talk privately, and therefore she accepted his suggestion to go upstairs to the Astronomy Tower. Of course, Harry quickly chided himself for this proposal when visions of the Slayer trying to hurl him off the edge of the tower soon came to mind and conjured up some unpleasant images. Particularly when they arrived up top and she stood there casually with crossed her arms, deep in thought but her gaze firmly fixed on him as if she was trying to stare him down. He certainly didn't know what to say at this stage, so he decided to remain silent and wait for her to kick things off.<p>

"So here's the thing," Buffy eventually said, uncrossing her arms. "I don't know how much you and Dawn have had a chance to talk, since she only told you yesterday, but I really hope you two are taking this seriously and-"

"_Of course_ we are," Harry butted in, offended by the suggestion that this was just something that he would brush off as nothing, especially when it was one of the most significant things that had ever happened to him.

Buffy was slightly annoyed by his rude interruption, particularly the tone his voice held, but stopped herself from biting back too harshly like she had earlier. "Well, hey, I know there are some people who wouldn't."

Harry closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "No one else is quite in the situation that we are right now though."

She gave a tiny nod to this, realising that he did have a point and sighed, although primarily her thoughts of concern were with her sister, she could understand how hard this was for Harry as well. "Yes, that brings us to another really important point - even though the prophecy influenced you and Dawn and started this whole thing, I still have to give you the 'big sister talk', especially 'coz I'm all Dawn has. Basically, it boils down to - if you screw my sister over or hurt her in any way, I will make it my mission to hunt you down and make you feel the pain you've caused her, and _so_ much more on top of that..."

The seriousness in her voice and the stern look in her eyes as she said this made Harry well aware that the blonde slayer was speaking the truth, and he would be lying if the prospect of this threat didn't scare him. However, he certainly had no intention of doing these things to Dawn, although there was still a lot to learn about her, he already cared enough to not want to see her hurt in all of this. It actually frightened him a little how much he was starting to care about her in such a short amount of time. One naive voice in the back of his mind tried to just brush it off and tell him that it was just the prophecy interfering again.

Noticing his silent preoccupation with his thoughts, Buffy studied him for a moment, trying to read more into the boy wizard who had knocked up her sister. She could see that he was being sincere in the whole situation, and as Buffy watched him and thought about what she'd observed of him so far, she could tell that he was generally different from the boys she knew when she was seventeen, and accounted this to the fact that maybe the experiences he'd been though had forced him to become quite a mature seventeen year-old. _That's something they both have in common, _she thought when she considered Dawn, and how she had also been through a lot more than any normal teenager as well, growing up with a sister who was a slayer and everything surrounding her being 'the Key'.

She also observed that Harry seemed to be quite guarded, and felt like she needed to persuade him to express his thoughts and intentions with her sister. "So, I've threatened you if you mess up with Dawn and this is the point where you jump in to defend yourself..."

Harry looked up at her, suddenly broken out of his thoughts and realising how his silence may have concerned the blonde. "Uh, well I'm not going to defend myself because Dawn and I have talked a little bit, probably not as much as we need to because it's all still sinking in, but you can rest assured – I'm not going to hurt Dawn... I've already told her that we're in this together."

Buffy nodded in approval, satisfied with the honesty she heard in his words. "Good... 'coz Dawn is good at putting up a front to hide her fears and insecurities, and even though she'll always have me, she'll need all the support she can get... that baby needs its father too, especially when we don't know what it will be capable of at this stage," she said staring Harry straight in the eyes as she said this.

_Well, if the early signs are anything to go by,_ Harry thought but stopped himself from saying out loud, taking a deep breath as Buffy's words hit him hard. Just the thought of being a father so young and so unexpectedly was almost too much for him to bear, then you threw in the prophecy, the awkwardness and feelings surrounding Dawn, and the expectations of everyone else around him, including from Buffy and the Order - the weight and pressure on him felt like it just kept getting heavier and heavier, and when would it be too much for him to carry?

Buffy must have sensed the tension from his side because he was extremely thankful when she didn't pursue grilling him with the hard-hitting questions, although she was probably saving them up for another time soon. Instead, she proceeded to ask him some questions about himself, obviously in an attempt to get to know him or understand him better. Harry felt the more that they continued the talk, the more at ease he felt. He certainly was thankful that they had moved past the yelling to have a proper conversation, and although Buffy had sort of flown off the hinge for a moment there and the anger at her for slapping Dawn aside, he could see that the blonde slayer wasn't as bad as she first appeared to be.

When the conversation seemed to naturally dry up, and they were both ready to head back downstairs, Buffy turned to Harry. "If there's ever anything you need to get off your chest, especially with Dawn or the prophecy, please consider me someone you can come to - I promise that I won't make a repeat of earlier with all the deafening screaming... well depends on what you have to tell me, especially if it's something I don't like," she began babbling, and it immediately struck Harry how this trait obviously ran in the Summers family. "Anyway, it's good to get to know you a little, especially now that you're gonna have to marry my sister and become my brother-in-law."

Harry had frozen still at this, unsure whether she was serious or not because of the ambiguous tone she used for the last part. Buffy kept a straight face for a moment, in order to watch him squirm, before she broke out into a laugh and rolled her eyes as she walked away.

* * *

><p>Dinner had finished and everyone was slowly spilling out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall, including Dawn, Hermione and Ron, when the reappearance of the slayer and the Boy Who Lived began drawing some attention. Personally, Dawn was just relieved to see that they hadn't caused any harm to each other, and thought the fact that Buffy had already finished her obligatory lecturing or threatening of Harry was extremely promising. Especially when one of the first interactions between the two had been so negative, it was good to see that they could quickly put it aside, she definitely didn't need any more drama on her plate.<p>

"Harry, mate, you completely missed dinner," Ron pointed out the obvious, considering everyone leaving the Great Hall made this apparent.

Dawn threw an uncertain smile at the pair, as she and her two dinner companions approached them, whilst the unsubtle whispers continued on from earlier and she tried her best to tune them out as she walked past them. However, Harry and Buffy clearly heard some of what was being said, and were suddenly both made aware of the fact that they'd unintentionally left Dawn to face the gossip and accusations at dinner all by herself.

"Oh my god, Dawnie – I'm sorry!" Buffy spoke up, both horrified and extremely apologetic.

Harry shook his head to no one in particular, it was definitely apparent that he was angry with himself. "I should have thought about-"

"It's alright, Harry," Hermione chimed in swiftly. "Apart from a near-confrontation with Romilda Vane, Ron and I made sure she didn't pay any attention to the nonsense that some others were coming out with."

"Thanks for that, guys," Buffy jumped in to thank the pair before Harry could.

Hermione waved it off. "It was no trouble at all – no one deserves to be subjected to that, especially when most of them don't even know all the facts."

Dawn shook her head. "No, seriously... thanks. I probably would've done something that I would've regretted to that nosey bitch, like beat the shit out of her, if you hadn't jumped in to rescue me."

The three Brits seemed slightly taken aback by her forwardness, although Harry secretly liked that part of her. He was relieved to see that his two best friends had been so level-headed and accepting of the extreme situation that both he and Dawn had found themselves in, by supporting Dawn when she needed it. Although, he felt a slight twinge of guilt for not coming clean to them sooner.

"Damn!" Buffy suddenly exclaimed, mainly to herself rather than the others, she looked over to see the others all staring at her, alarmed. "Oh, just remembered that I forgot to talk to McGonagall about getting Dawn's things moved downstairs."

Dawn immediately irked up at this comment, particularly angry that her sister often failed to involve her decisions that included her. "What? What do you mean, Buffy? You're moving me out of the Gryffindor Tower?"

Buffy's hands immediately went to her hips, giving Dawn a stern look. "Yes, now that I know you're pregnant, you're _not_ staying up there. You'll bunk with me instead... besides, it's only for a few nights and it's safer with me and away from all the hype."

"You could've asked me first, though!" Dawn threw her hands up in frustration, as the other three looked like they definitely weren't getting involved in the sisterly argument. She began to storm away from the group. "Just great, I can see it now... you're never going to give me any space again!"

"You're damn right I am!" Buffy projected back to Dawn's retreating form. "Look what happened last time I decided to give you some space!"

* * *

><p><em>It was a dark, but quite an elegantly-decorated house, in which a short, rodent-faced, grovelling man approached a closed door and raised a shaky fist to knock several times. He was soon summoned into a rather large room, with extremely high ceilings and walls lined floor-to-ceiling with bookcases filled with various old books. The man was hunched over in fear as he approached another man in a long, flowing, black cloak, who had gotten up to greet him. This man was much different from the first man, he held himself with confidence and an intimidating presence, however the most distinguishing difference was that his face was extremely horrifying and unpleasant, especially with eyes that resembled that of a snake.<em>

"_Wormtail," the snake-eyed man almost hissed, as he looked at the other man in distaste. "I specifically said that I was not to be disturbed – __**how dare you**__ come in here directly against my wishes! If this isn't something important..."_

_Wormtail flinched at the unfinished threat. "M-My Lord, it is of importance! I have just received news from Nott that you will..." he paused nervously, clearly not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. "That you find interesting."_

_Suddenly an actual snake slithered out from behind a chair and both descended upon Wormtail until they were frighteningly close. "And by 'interesting', you mean news that I will not like to hear?"_

_Wormtail slowly nodded, meanwhile the other man's eyes narrowed further, if that was at all possible, while the snake loomed beside him._

"_Go ahead, Wormtail. If Nott had important news for me, he should have been the one to come to me directly! Therefore... you will not be punished for making me aware of this information, no matter how upsetting it is."_

_Wormtail visibly relaxed at this, and he quickly found his voice again. "Some of this news comes from Nott and the other from our sources inside the ministry... Another prophecy surrounding Harry Potter has been found," with his grubby hand, he reached into his pocket and produced the prophecy written on a piece of parchment and lowered his head as he held it out._

_The other man snatched it angrily, and didn't hesitate in skimming his eyes across the parchment. Moments later he looked back up at Wormtail and was clearly furious, nostrils flared._

"_HOW LONG HAS THIS PROPHECY EXISTED WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE?" he demanded._

_Wormtail automatically recoiled. "I a-assure you, My Lord, that this has only just been discovered by those inside the ministry. It has been immediately b-brought to your attention."_

_The snake-eyed man jabbed an angry finger at the parchment as he looked it over once more. "Who is this other person mentioned here in the prophecy?" he said to himself, not expecting Wormtail to be knowledgeable enough to know._

"_W-well, actually, M-My Lord," Wormtail said hesitantly. "Nott knows this part of the prophecy... his son, Theodore, at Hogwarts told him that P-Potter arrived back there less than twenty-four hours ago."_

"_Yes," the other man spat. "And does that have anything to do with this child Potter is supposed create to help DEFEAT me?"_

_Wormtail nodded. "U-unfortunately, My Lord. D-do you remember those American visitors we heard were at Hogwarts?"_

"_What does that have to do with this, Wormtail?" he replied furiously, holding the prophecy up in the air, he was beginning to lose his patience._

"_Apparently one of the visitors, a g-girl, is p-pregnant with Harry Potter's child."_

"_WHAT?" was the roaring reply, filling the room so loudly that it almost felt like that anything made of glass would shatter._

_The snake beside the man suddenly reared up in anger, as the man with snake eyes whisked out his wand in a matter of seconds, completely enraged, and yelled out a string of spells, causing the room to be encased in a glow. Terrified screams from Wormtail could be heard..._

Dawn awoke and sat bolt upright with a loud intake of breath, the sound of the screams still echoing in her mind. She had been tossing and turning all night, like the previous night, however she had managed to fall asleep long enough to have experienced that terrible dream. Now she was conscious, she immediately recognised the man with the sickening face in the dream to have been Voldemort. _Did that dream happen for real?_ was her first thought.

Buffy had stirred from beside her, in the bed that the sisters had to share when Buffy had insisted on having Dawn stay with her. She took a moment for her eyes to adjust in the dark, and then she peered up at her younger sister questioningly.

"Everything okay, Dawn?" Buffy asked with a croaky, tired voice and still appeared half-asleep. "The baby-"

"Is fine," Dawn cut off in a hushed voice. "Just need to pee," she lied, quickly getting up to go to the bathroom.

Once inside, she splashed some cold water on her face and stared absent-mindedly into the mirror. There was something about that dream... or nightmare, really, that had her truly shaken; everything, all the emotions in particular, had felt so real, and then her sixth sense started telling her that it probably was and that terrified her. _That means Voldemort knows about me and the baby now,_ she panicked.

Even though it was the middle of the night, she felt like she needed to talk about what she'd dreamt and as she walked back out into the bedroom again, she noticed that Buffy had already drifted back to sleep. Then and there she knew there was only one person she had to talk to the dream about, and she rushed to throw a hoodie over her flannelette pyjamas and slipped her feet into her bright-pink slipper boots. She tip-toed across to the door, paying close attention as to not wake up Buffy, and she then exited the guest room.

The corridors were dark and deserted, relieved to see there was no sign of that creepy caretaker, Filch, not that she would get in trouble for wandering around because she wasn't a student, she just couldn't stand the strange man. She finally made her way up to the Fat Lady portrait and let herself into the portrait hole by reciting the password for an extremely sleepy Fat Lady. The Common Room was quite dark and hard to see around, as the fire had burned down to faintly glowing embers, so she made sure to tread carefully, only to be startled by a sudden voice.

"_Lumos,_" a voice from across the room called, and then Dawn could clearly see Harry standing there, his face lit by the light emitted from his wand.

"Dawn," he said with surprise, when he noticed her standing there. "It's the middle of the night... I thought you were down in the guest rooms with Buffy."

She nodded. "I was, but I had a freaky dream and needed to talk about it," she explained, seeing a frown appear on Harry's face.

He went over to the fireplace and used a spell to restart the fire, Dawn briefly registered that this was the first time she'd witnessed him performing magic, and within moments the fire was in full swing again. He turned back to Dawn and motioned for her to come join him over to the couches, and now that the light in the room was improved, she could see that he seemed quite restless and exhausted.

"What happened in this dream?" he asked softly, but appeared to be quite concerned.

Dawn shrugged. "I... I think it really happened. There was this guy, who I think was Voldemort, and he found out-"

"About the prophecy and the baby," Harry suddenly jumped in, causing her to look up at him with mystification, and he sighed loudly. "I had the same dream."


	15. When They Find a Horcrux

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Wow, I can't believe it's been over two weeks! Once again, things have been pretty hectic, but I've tried to fit in some writing where I can and I tried to cut down on the length for this chapter, the word counts were getting a bit unrealistic for me to maintain but still be able to post regularly. (Not that it ended up being much shorter in the end, haha!)

Anyway, thanks again everyone for your support, hope you like where this is going. And yes, I really was sounding like a broken record, **Oniongrass, **I know... that's why I've stopped begging, lol.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Fifteen – When They Find a Horcrux<span>

"Whoa," Dawn exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly for the middle of the night, so she paused briefly and then lowered her voice. "So now we're sharing dreams?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, after Voldemort attacked me, he formed some sort of connection with me, and so sometimes I've had dreams or sort of felt what he's feeling at times, especially as Voldemort has gotten stronger again... hmm, maybe the prophecy has something to do with you sharing the dream as well."

Dawn had felt a strong unease from the moment she woke from the disturbing dream, and really needed to voice her fears. "Okay, but he knows we're here now... what do we do now?"

"I think we need go somewhere else, probably sooner rather than later, before he can organise any sort of attack or interception if we don't get away soon enough," Harry said honestly, but also knew that the Order was still working on a 'safe house' option.

She felt fear run through her, as she played out possible scenarios in her head. Although, the one thing that struck her again as the words left Harry's mouth, was that feeling from earlier telling her that her business here at Hogwarts was unfinished, and so she quickly shook her head in response.

"I don't know... I totally agree with you, Harry, but I still have that feeling - there's something really important here," she responded truthfully.

Harry looked unconvinced. "Is this the same one from the meeting earlier?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "Seriously, I..." she glanced over and saw a gold chain hanging out of the pocket in Harry's dressing down and was immediately drawn to it.

Harry had frowned, watching her as she leaned over and reached for the necklace peeking out of his pocket, she was suddenly completely captivated by the object in front of her that she knew nothing about, as she held a golden locket in her hand.

"What's this?" she asked, holding it by the chain and dangling it out in front of her face.

"Oh, that's Salazar Slytherin's locket, it's one of the horcruxes I told you about," Harry explained. "It's the only one Ron, Hermione and I managed to find from the ones we still had to find. When I woke up from the dream before, I was just looking at it thinking about everything..."

She used her free hand to clasp the actual locket part in her hand to study it further, she was about to open her mouth to ask Harry something when that strange, needle-like pain returned to her abdomen. She hunched over in distress, she managed a loud, cry of pain.

"Dawn!" Harry cried out with concern, moving towards her and reaching out for the locket.

However, she immediately dropped the locket in a reflex action, sending it tumbling across the Common Room floor and then suddenly pain was gone as fast as it had arrived, like the feeling of when you accidentally touch something that is extremely hot, although luckily there was no lingering pain or stinging afterwards for Dawn. Meanwhile, Harry had her by each shoulder looking uncertain of what to do; once the pain had disappeared, she stood tall again and met Harry's eyes.

"Seriously, Dawn - that's the second time that's happened!" he pointed out anxiously. "You should go see Madam Pomfrey."

Dawn shook her head. "No," she replied, she somehow knew that this wasn't anything bad but just the baby trying to tell her something.

Harry looked confounded. "What? But if there's something wrong..." he trailed off, only then just noticing that he still hadn't released his grip of Dawn and instantly dropped his arms back to his side and awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Harry, I appreciate your concern," she began, knowing that he probably thought she was crazy at this point in time. "If I thought there was something wrong, I would go to the Hospital Wing, but... but I don't think there is, I was fine when I was holding it by then chain but then got the pain when I touched the locket part – I think it's a sign or something. As you said, it was one of Voldemort's horcruxes."

"What about the same thing earlier?" Harry asked, still unconvinced.

Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place for Dawn – the baby _was_ trying to tell her something! The last time she'd experience that same pain had been back in the Room of Requirement with Harry - there was also their conversation about the horcruxes they'd both had back in that room. '_Hermione suggested there could be one here at Hogwarts',_ his words replayed back in her head.

"I know where another one of those horcrux-thingys is!" she suddenly exclaimed quite loudly, losing her vocal volume control in her excitement.

"Shh," Harry hushed, earning an apology from Dawn; he glanced briefly up at the staircase and then turned back to her with a flabbergasted expression. "How do you know-"

"The Room of Requirement – we were in there when I felt that strange pain for the first time, remember? The baby knew it was in there and was trying to tell me!" she explained confidently; realising how insane she would sound if anyone else was listening to her, even she was still disbelieving that her baby could know such a thing from inside the womb.

Although he looked confused at first, staring blankly at a random spot of carpet, Dawn then watched as something registered on Harry's face and he looked back at her animatedly.

"You know, you may be right! Last year, I had to hide a potions book that had some horrible spells written in it. I ended up in the corridor outside the Room of Requirement and the room ended up transforming into this enormous storage room, there were thousands of items people had hidden in there over the years... it's extremely possible that Voldemort could have hidden a horcrux in there while he was at the school," he explained, to which Dawn stood up, so he looked at her questioningly. "What are you doing?"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go now!"

"Where are you going?" a sudden third, male voice appeared from over on the staircase.

Dawn and Harry snapped their heads around in alarm, but were relieved to see that it was only Ron standing over there, stifling a yawn. Harry had then looked back towards Dawn.

"Nowhere," he replied, as she returned his stare. "It can wait until morning."

Dawn was immediately irked by this. "Don't be a hypocrite, Harry. You said yourself that the sooner we leave Hogwarts the better, and we can't leave until we find this horcrux."

Ron had approached the pair, his confusion growing. "Wait a minute, what's this about the horcrux and leaving Hogwarts?"

Dawn had crossed her arms in annoyance, silently looking towards Harry to do the explaining to his friend.

Harry sighed loudly. "Well, what happened was," he paused momentarily. "I had a dream, now Voldemort knows everything about the prophecy and Dawn, and we also think that a horcrux is in the Room of Requirement."

Ron and Dawn both looked at Harry with surprise, albeit for different reasons – Dawn was wondering why he'd lied, not mentioning that they had both shared the dream and also her involvement in figuring out where the horcrux was. _Why?_ she wondered, she knew that Harry told his two best friends everything.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ron responded. "Harry, this is what we've spent months in that ruddy tent trying to track down - if there's a horcrux here in the castle, we should find it and destroy it straight away! We don't want to risk it getting into someone else's hands, especially if Voldemort figures out we are destroying them."

Dawn nodded in support of the redhead. "I can't go back to bed knowing that there's part of this evil creep's soul here in this castle, especially when he wants to kill me and the baby."

"Alright... let's do it then," Harry was easily persuaded, he then looked up in the direction of the dorms. "At least we're all technically not students, so we're free to roam in the middle of the night, but we should probably wake Hermione."

Both boys turned to look at Dawn, who was wondering why their attention had suddenly turned towards her, so she stared at them blankly. "What?" she asked, looking between them.

"We can't go up there," Ron explained.

"Oh," she replied in one drawn out syllable, she just remembered what someone had mentioned to her once about the staircase leading to the girl's dorms. "Yep, got ya," she said, making her way over to the staircase. "The staircase doesn't let you guys up there - to stop... well, this from happening," she finished, gesturing to herself with a small giggle.

* * *

><p>Hermione had been surprised when Dawn gently shook her awake, carefully avoiding waking up Lavender and Parvati in the process, especially since it was the middle of the night and Dawn was supposed to be down in the guest rooms with Buffy. Dawn had whispered for her to follow her downstairs, telling her to rug up and put some sort of footwear on and then that she would explain everything else when they were down in the Common Room.<p>

They quickly gave her a run-down on what was happening and now the four of them were walking the dark corridors of Hogwarts towards the Room of Requirement. Hermione had agreed that since they were all awake now it made sense to see if they had any luck finding the next horcrux, not knowing how long it could take them to find it, considering how large Harry had described the room when he disposed of the Half-Blood Prince's book. Dawn noticed that Harry had still not made any mention of the fact that they possibly had a very helpful tool in finding the hidden horcrux – the baby. As they walked along, they all tried to hypothesise what the object could be.

"It could have something to do with Hogwarts or its founders, definitely something of significance – Voldemort wouldn't just pick any random object," Hermione thought out loud, Dawn just nodded and went with it, really having no idea about these horcruxes or what Voldemort might have used. "We already know he used his grandfather's ring, his own diary and Slytherin's locket – could he have used something from the other houses?"

Ron scoffed. "I don't know... well, he wouldn't have used anything of Gryffindor's, that's for sure."

The two of them continued to be the main contributors to the conversation, while Dawn and Harry quietly walked along until Dawn motioned for Harry to drop back from the other two so she could have a word with him.

"Why didn't tell them that I had to dream too? Or that I... _we_ figured out where the horcrux was?" she said in a low voice, with a quick gesture to her abdomen.

Harry looked towards the other two to make sure they were still involved in their conversation, before turning back towards Dawn. "I thought that until we know more about what the baby is capable of, it's probably better if we keep it to ourselves."

Although she could see where he was coming from, Dawn didn't really agree, and was finding herself getting annoyed again at his lack of consultation with her. "Don't you think that I should have a say in that too? 'Coz I've over-loaded on the lies and secrets lately - I don't think I can keep doing that!"

"I-" Harry was about to reply, when Hermione and Ron had stopped in the corridor outside, where the Room of Requirement was hidden, and had turned to look at Dawn and Harry.

Hermione had studied them both for a moment and then turned to Harry. "Harry, you've summoned that room before; I think you should be the one to try again."

He simply nodded and Dawn watched as he began the same pacing on the spot he'd done less than twenty-four hours ago, and within moments the doors appeared on the wall in front of them. He walked over and opened the door and peered his head inside the door, just enough to see if he'd been able to summon the correct room.

"It worked!" Harry said with relief and excitement, as he looked back towards the other three.

Moments later they all stood inside the door, staring at what lay ahead of them in wonder. Dawn was particularly overwhelmed, not really imagining that the Room of Requirement could become something so large and church-like, and piled up with so many random objects that it almost reminded her of the skyline of Los Angeles. Knowing the other three would have a better idea of what to do; she turned to them to ask them where to start, although hoping that the baby would make this search a hell of a lot easier.

"So," she began, drawing the word out for several seconds.

Hermione was about to speak up but Harry quickly cut her off at the pass. "I think we should split up, maybe not on our own in case something falls or we get lost – Ron you go with Hermione, and I'll stay with Dawn, if that's alright?"

Ron and Hermione both seemed satisfied with this and nodded in response, although Dawn didn't miss observing Hermione give both her and Harry a momentary look that she couldn't quite read, so she shrugged it off quickly. They then agreed to take different halves of the extremely vast room, also deciding that because of the late hour, they weren't doing a thorough search, more of a walk-through around the massive piles of things, and then hopefully get a good idea if they were barking up the wrong tree or even better, find the horcrux.

Harry and Dawn took the right-hand side of the room and it didn't take long before the other two had disappeared from sight, their voices becoming harder and harder to hear. Harry didn't hesitate in turning towards Dawn.

"Are you feeling anything at the moment?" he inquired, as they walked past a large, wooden table that was stacked high with bits and pieces.

There was no sign of that pain she had felt the last time she was in this room, and so she shook her head as she looked at curiously at a very old, bloodied axe that was randomly leaning against the table, and it immediately reminded her both of Sunnydale and Buffy. She briefly wondered what creature or person's blood it was, but then got easily distracted by the many other haphazardly stored items as they continued on in silence.

"So," Dawn began, wanting to fill the silence. "You just assumed that I wanted to be paired up with you, maybe I wanted to go with Ron or Hermione instead..." she saw out of the corner of her eye that he was taken aback by this, so she gave a small laugh. "Only kidding, by the way."

Harry still seemed a little bothered, although she could tell there was something else playing on his mind. "Listen, Dawn. I'm sorry if I upset you earlier when I didn't consult you... twice."

"Don't worry about," she waved it off with her right hand, although she was extremely annoyed at the time, she was already starting to forget about it as they walked around the labyrinth of things. "But I do get a little crabby sometimes when it comes to being not included in things. Now that you've got to meet Buffy properly, I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from... although she has been a lot worse since mom died."

"I promise I won't do it again," he vowed genuinely. "I guess it is the fact that... that I have no idea what I'm doing, but feel like I have to be strong in this and I obviously want to do what is best for you as well."

Dawn smiled at him, feeling a warmth spreading from her chest to throughout her body. "You're not the only one, Harry... and you're doing really well so far."

He smiled back at her and they continued to silently wander amongst the sea of both magical and non-magical objects. In the sudden silence, she could almost make out the voices of Ron and Hermione across the room, obviously both converging on the same spot and they would eventually run into each other again.

"Listen, I don't think this is gonna work as well as well thought it would," she began to doubt herself, with no feelings or signs from the baby so far and they had already walked around a decent portion of the room. "I guess this baby isn't as well trained as we hoped, but we should cut it some slack-"

"Dawn – what..." Harry was quick to jump in by her the sudden cut off of her sentence, although he trailed off as he followed Dawn's intense eye-line to a particular cupboard in front them. "Wait a minute; I think I've seen that cupboard before when I hid something in it last year."

Dawn stare wasn't drawn to what was in the old, blistered cupboard, but rather what was resting on top of the cupboard, and before she knew it, her legs were moving and she was briskly walking towards it. Harry had quickly caught her up and made sure he beat her to it, so that he was the one of reach up above his head to pull down the statue head he had placed there almost a year ago. Dawn sighed, realising now that her pregnancy was out in the open, everyone would probably be treating her like even more of an invalid than usual, although she was quite capable herself.

She noticed that Harry had a peculiar expression as he looked down at the statue in his hands. "What's up?" she asked with a frown.

He gave a small chuckle. "You know what's funny?" Dawn shook her head, clueless, and shrugged in response. "I put this up there when I was here last. If this is what we've been looking for...," he looked down to read an inscription on the tiara that was perched on the statue's head. "'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_'_ - this must be Ravenclaw's! This would certainly fit in with Hermione's theory, it could be a horcrux."

"Only one way to find out," Dawn interjected, quickly grabbing the tiara before Harry could protest and she could think twice about it.

She vaguely heard Harry move quickly to put down the statue of the witch's head and could feel his presence right there beside her, but she was too preoccupied, when she felt an intense pain cripple her, triggered by holding this tiara in her hand. She cried out and so he rushed to her aid by snatching it out of her grasp and placing it down on a nearby table. She felt immediate relief, although not completely; it took much longer this time to recover as the pain was much stronger than what she had felt previously.

"Bloody hell! Are you okay?" Harry asked in a panic, and she could see an infuriated expression creeping on his features, as she took in some deep breaths with her hand resting on her stomach. "You can't keep doing this, Dawn! This was a bloody stupid idea!"

Right away, she knew he was right and nodded, as tears prickled in her eyes from the momentary pain. "Yeah, but - hey, at least we've found another horcrux," she replied with a fake cheeriness, as she finally recovered and felt almost like she was back to normal.

Harry was still slightly red in the face and looked uneasy. "It shouldn't have to be at yours or the baby's risk though..." he sighed. "But thanks, who knows how long it would've taken to find it without you."

Dawn did feel a little guilty; she probably didn't think it all over as well as she should have. She looked over sheepishly at Harry and then, as if it seemed like the most natural thing to do in the world, both teens moved into a lingering hug. As they stood there, she noticed that she could still feel her heart trying to return to normal from after the unsettling events. They just stood there for several moments, not uttering a single word, and in the silence Dawn soon realised how at home she felt as she rested her cheek comfortably on his shoulder, although this feeling also unnerved her. They eventually pulled away from each other, however only halfway out of the embrace, so now Dawn soon found herself standing face-to-face with him, only inches apart. Never breaking contact with his intense, green eyes, which she thought were the most beautiful colour she'd ever seen, Dawn felt herself being drawn in like a magnetic pull, Harry was also closing what little distance there was between them. Their noses lightly brushed each other as their lips just about to come together as one and Dawn closed her eyes-

"Harry? Dawn?" Ron's nearby voice reached their ears, breaking the moment and the two immediately jumped away from each other, looking around with embarrassment. "We thought we heard a-" his voice cut off when he appeared around the corner and saw the two of them standing there, looking at anything but each other.

Hermione quickly appeared beside him with a concerned face. "Is everything alright? We heard someone yell out from almost all the way across the room!"

"Yep, it's all good," Dawn answered swiftly, wanting a quick distraction so she pointed over at the old tiara. "We found the horcrux."

Meanwhile, she could feel Harry's eyes shift in her direction and because she was still reeling from the previous few moments, she had to keep telling herself not to look back his way; otherwise she'd just get more and more confused. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his shoulders drop and he finally looked away again, she felt a slight pang of guilt.

"But there are millions of things in here! I didn't expect that we would find anything... how did you two manage to find it?" Hermione said with a shocked tone as she swiftly walked over to the tiara. "Oh my stars – this is Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem! I've read about this."

Ron had followed behind and looked towards Dawn and Harry. "How do you know this is one of the horcruxes?"

Harry finally spoke up for the first time since Ron and Hermione had interrupted them, Dawn noticed there was a slight distance in his voice. "I recognised it was Ravenclaw's and was working on your theory, Hermione."

"You just said it - that was a _theory_, Harry," Hermione frowned. "I don't understand why you both sound so sure on this, how do we know?"

Dawn could see from next to her that Harry was about to open his mouth to respond, but she stopped him with a brief hand on his arm. "As I was saying earlier, I'm done with any more lies," she then turned towards the other two. "We knew that the horcrux was here and we know that's the horcrux because... well, the baby told us."

"What?" both Ron and Hermione simultaneously exclaimed, flabbergasted.

Hermione was temporarily rendered speechless, so Ron was first to jump into the questioning. "How can the baby tell you? It's not as if it can talk," he inquired, although he had a valid point the way he said it with such absurdity, made Dawn roll her eyes and smile audaciously.

_Boy, were they in for a shock then,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

><p>Ron and Hermione were quite disbelieving at first, as Harry and Dawn explaining the unusual happenings surrounding the baby, but when reminded of the prophecy, they began to believe that Harry and Dawn weren't just messing around with them. After the explanations had come to an end, they all decided that they should all go back to bed straight away.<p>

Once they were out in the corridor, and had headed towards the staircase that would take Dawn down towards the guest rooms, Harry, who had been carrying the tiara, handed the horcrux to Ron and had volunteered to accompany Dawn downstairs, extremely keen to talk about what had happened back in the Room of Requirement. He could tell that Dawn trying to avoid him, especially when she vehemently refused his offer, stating that "The portrait hole is already on this floor, it doesn't make sense to go all the way down to the guest rooms". Harry would have normally argued about this and refused to accept 'no' for an answer, but at this point he was just too exhausted to press the issue, and so he said a defeated 'goodnight' to Dawn and watched her leave.

As the three of them continued on to the Gryffindor Tower, Harry was lost in his thoughts as the other two tiredly rattled on, disagreeing about something, as usual. _Why is she avoiding me? She wouldn't even look me in the eye, _he pondered despondently. _Maybe she was embarrassed about what almost happened before Ron and Hermione interrupted._ True, they were already both in an extremely complicated situation, and were perhaps about to make it even more complicated, but somehow it was all he could think about, and to him, it seemed worth the risk – he'd never met anyone like Dawn before. He came to the conclusion that she probably wasn't feeling the same way, and now he probably just went and scared her away.

"It seems such as shame to have to destroy something of Rowena Ravenclaw's... it's kind of pretty too," Hermione's voice suddenly cut into Harry's thoughts, and he looked up from the ground ahead to see that she was talking to him. "Do you want to do the honours, Harry?"

Harry sighed. "I really don't care," he said in a somewhat short voice.

"Everything alright there, Harry?" Ron asked as they finally reached the Fat Lady and entered through to the Common Room. "You've been pretty quiet since the Room of Requirement... thought it looked like we interrupted something back there."

Although he appreciated that his sudden drop in mood hadn't gone unnoticed, he'd missed out on so much sleep recently that he really didn't want to go into everything at this point in time, especially since it was almost four o'clock in the morning. "_Nothing_ happened, I'm just exhausted," he replied grumpily, making a bee-line for the dormitories, he briefly stopped and looked back at them. "Hermione, you still have the sword in that bag of yours – feel free to destroy that thing as soon as you can," he then continued up the stairs.

He could vaguely hear the fretful voices of his two friends as he wound up the staircase, and knew that he would regret snapping at them in the morning. For now, all he could do is dive into bed and hope that sleep would find him much easier than it recently had, although basically as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a strong feeling of dread... something was wrong. _Dawn,_ he immediately registered and hurriedly pushed back the covers again.

He threw back on his dressing gown and quickly grabbed his wand, which was resting on his bedside table, before he rushed out of the dormitory. Going down the stairs back towards the Common Room, he almost collided with Ron, who was only just heading back up to bed.

"Blimey! Where's the fire?" the redhead asked in rather loud whisper, trying not to let his voice carry back up to the dorms but failing miserably.

Harry barely slowed his decent of the staircase. "I'll explain later – I'll be back soon, I hope," he said hurriedly without turning around and faintly heard Ron call out if he needed help at all, but he had already left his friend behind, rushing across the Common Room and out into the corridor.

He promptly made his way down the staircase to a couple of floors below, where he knew the guest rooms were located and where his instinct was telling him to go. He was quickly weaving through the corridors, when he rounded a corner to see two dark figures in the corridor ahead, one was backed up against the corridor wall and straight away he somehow knew it was Dawn, meanwhile the other taller figure stood over her in an extremely threatening manner.

"Too bad Potter isn't here to save you now," Harry recognised the echoing voice of Theodore Nott that carried down the corridor

Without hesitation, he drew his wand and approached the pair with his wand at the ready, preparing to hex the Slytherin. However, Nott being in such close proximity to Dawn made Harry hesitate; he certainly didn't want to run the risk of accidentally hitting Dawn with a spell, especially in her stomach region. Unexpectedly, as he approached, he watched as Dawn brought her knee up into Nott's groin – and with a lot of force!

Nott jumped back and doubled over in pain, falling to the ground. "You... b-bloody... bitch!" he cried out in between groans of pain.

Dawn had moved away from Nott, her hands on her hips. "I grew up in Sunnydale, California! I can save myself, thank you very much... you fucking bastard!"

Even with the seriousness of the situation, Harry couldn't help but let a small smirk appear on his face at Dawn's antics, seeing that she could definitely hold her own. He accredited a lot of that to having Buffy as a sister, although he was starting to realise that was also part of who she was, and he really admired her for her strength and conviction.

"Dawn!" he called out with worry, finally reaching the scene in front of him, and stopping right behind her.

She jumped around in surprise at the sound of his voice, obviously on edge, as if she was expecting another attack from someone. Harry saw her visibly relax when she caught a glimpse of him standing there behind her.

"Are you alright? Nott didn't do anything, did he?" Harry questioned frantically, looking her up and down to make sure she wasn't harmed in any way. "What happened?"

Dawn shook her head. "He came out of nowhere and was sprouting on about how I shouldn't be walking the corridors alone at night..." Harry saw her shiver and thought he caught a glimpse of fear, although she quickly hid it. "Then this asshole here started saying how pleased 'The Dark Lord' would be if he showed up with me, saying that I probably wouldn't last 'til daylight."

Harry had kept one eye on Nott while he listened to Dawn; the Slytherin was starting to recover and was completely livid, although Harry's anger easily matched his. Harry moved so that he stood half in front of Dawn, as Nott stumbled back to his feet and raised his wand.

"Ah, so Potter has come to save the day... save the whore he knocked up."

Harry gripped his wand so tightly that his knuckles were beginning to turn white, his eyes narrowed to slits with fury, and he felt like he wouldn't be able to stop himself from giving Nott a one-way ticket to the Hospital Wing, and that scared him. Dawn had stepped in close to his side and he opened his mouth to throw a jinx in Nott's direction, but before he could he was cut off by the feeling of a wand poking into the back of his neck.

Nott smiled smugly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."


	16. When the Baby Saves the Day

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  This chapter turned out to be a little epic, especially to write... just when I was trying to cut down the word count per chapter too, lol. It was a hard one to write too, there was so much involved and I knew what I wanted to happen but I had to keep tweaking it until it felt right and seemed realistic. Let me know what you all think, there may be things I probably should have tweaked even more. Or maybe you'll all love it and it is perfect the way it is! *crosses fingers*

Hope the ending to this chapter isn't as torturous as the previous! And finally, a really big thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter: **mwinter1**, **Akalea**, **Penny is wise** and **Makindeor**!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Sixteen – When the Baby Saves the Day<span>

Although Harry had been forced to re-think his attack on Nott, he still stood there refusing to lower his wand, absolutely drowning in hate for the Slytherin who stood before him.

"Seriously, Potter," Nott spoke again condescendingly. "I would lower your wand, if you don't want anything to happen to your filthy, muggle girlfriend there."

He felt Dawn's hand on his arm and turned to see that she too had a wand pointed at her and she met his gaze with wide, anxious eyes. Just that one look made him think twice and eventually lower his wand, although still holding it in his hand with a vice-grip. However, his wand was quickly forced from his hand and he then turned to see who had come to Nott's rescue, and there stood Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who then moved over to stand in front of him and Dawn.

"Damn, I wish I was a witch right now," he heard Dawn say quietly beside him, she had a good point – it was almost three against one at this stage because even if Dawn had other methods of defending herself, she was surely limited by her pregnancy, not to mention she didn't want to risk getting caught in the firing line.

Nott directed his wand at Dawn for a moment, before redirecting it towards Harry. "_Crucio!_" he cried out, Harry immediately felt blinded by an intense pain that seemed to last forever, he thought he vaguely heard Dawn scream out his name.

"Don't say another word! Or Potter will suffer some more," he threatened, and Harry suddenly realised he was on the cold, stone floor when everything started to become clear again. As Dawn helped him back to his feet, Nott then looked towards Harry. "And don't think about doing anything heroic, Potter, you're out-numbered. The Dark Lord will be extremely pleased when I deliver you both to him."

"That's not going to happen, _Nott_," Harry spat out, when he looked back over at Dawn; he could see that her eyes were burning holes into Nott's skull, whilst the cogs were turning over in her head, like she was planning something.

He tried to give her a look as if to convey "Please don't do anything stupid, leave it to me", she saw him but he wasn't sure if she got the message.

"Just face it, Potter, you can't weasel your way out of this one – you wouldn't want to risk anything happening to that bastard spawn of yours. Now move!"

Seconds later, Crabbe and Goyle had pushed their wands into his and Dawn's backs, forcing them to start walking forward, Nott taking charge at the front. As they started down the corridor, Harry thought about Nott's actions and words so far, knowing that he may not be afraid to directing his threats towards Harry, but he somehow doubted that Nott would actually stoop as low as to fatally harm a pregnant woman. Keeping this in mind, he tried to strategise how they were going to get out of this one, any scenario he played out in his head made him terrified that something was inadvertently going to happen to Dawn or the baby. However, he also knew that if he didn't stand up against Nott, he would deliver them directly to Voldemort and then they were probably as good as dead anyway.

They turned a corner and Harry heard Dawn make a little squeak to get his attention, fortunately it was quite enough that none of the three Slytherins heard her, she suddenly had a hopeful expression and crooked her head to motion to the corridor ahead. _The guest rooms, of course!_ He realised that they were heading towards them. If they could safely cause enough commotion, maybe this would get the attention of someone who could come to their aid; he just hoped that Buffy was a light sleeper.

He was still hypothesising ideas of how he would get them both out of the current situation, when unexpectedly, he suddenly found himself holding his wand. _What the...?_ he thought in confusion; only seconds ago, Nott had Harry's wand securely in his non-wand hand and wasn't looking to part with it anytime soon, and now when he needed it, here it was!

Although, he soon realised this wasn't exactly a good thing, when immediately Nott span around and looked at him with wide, surprised eyes.

"How..." he managed, before Harry seized the moment and simultaneously kicked his leg back towards Goyle, hitting him square in the knee, and also threw a spell in Nott's direction.

"_Stupefy!_" Harry yelled, but Nott was too quick to recover from his shock and blocked the spell.

In the meantime, while Harry and Nott threw a couple of generally unsuccessful hexes and jinxes at each other, Dawn had been quick to respond by throwing her elbow back into Crabbe's face, producing a loud crack when presumably Crabbe's nose broke. Crabbe immediately clutched over from the pain. Just when Harry was finally getting the upper-hand in his duel with Nott, by forcing him to stumble back when he managed to hit him with an impediment jinx, the sound of Dawn made him turn around.

"Get off me, you big oaf!" she called out loudly, and he turned around to see that Goyle had quickly recovered from Harry's earlier blow and had approached Dawn. She had successfully knocked Goyle's wand out of his grasp, however he currently had his arm enveloped around Dawn, who was thrashing around in an attempt to shake his larger form off her.

Harry switched his gaze back to Nott, determined to immediately take care of him and go to Dawn's aid, but he was too slow and was hit by a stream of red light that sent crashing on the ground and onto his back. All he could do is watch as his wand was sent tumbling across the floor, and well out of his grasp. Feeling as through the wind hand been well and truly knocked out of him, he suddenly felt two hands rest on his torso and looked up to see Dawn crouched down at his side.

"What happened to-" he managed in between deep breaths and looked over to see Buffy had ambushed Goyle's attack on Dawn and was now taking on both him and Crabbe, who still had blood pouring from his broken nose. Buffy may have easily had them in a physical confrontation; however the two Slytherins were certainly slowing her down by throwing spells at her, which she had to manoeuvre around.

"Buffy's got this one – are you okay?" she asked quickly with concern, in which he nodded.

Unfortunately, this momentary distraction had given Nott an opportunity approach the pair, his usual smirk had disappeared and he now looked deadly serious, if not a little fearful. "I didn't really want it to come to this but... but h-he'll kill me or my father if I fail him," he began, aiming his wand at the pair.

"Don't be daft, Nott. Do you really think that you're getting out of here either way?" Harry said in an attempt to throw him off, Nott's extended arm began to shake. Meanwhile, Harry peeled himself off the floor and onto his knees; making sure his body shielded Dawn's. He glanced back over at his wand, which was at least ten feet away, and wondered if he could get it in time, but he knew couldn't leave Dawn now.

"Dawn!" Harry heard Buffy call out from somewhere behind, followed by the sounds of two loud thuds he assumed were Crabbe and Goyle hitting the deck. This triggered a desperate expression on Nott's face, knowing that the slayer was coming for him next, so he gave a quick swish of his wand hand and hurriedly shouted "_Avada Kedavra_!"

"Nooo!" Harry heard someone shout, only to realise that it was his own voice.

The next few seconds seemed to go on forever and it felt as if everything was going in slow-motion. He managed to look over and make eye contact with Dawn, who looked back at him with horror-struck eyes, as the jet of bright, green light formed out of Nott's wand and hurtled towards them like an express freight train. At the very same time, an unexpected, white glow came from underneath Dawn's hoodie and all Harry could do is watch as the light expanded outward, forming a large, glowing bubble-like barrier around the pair, only milliseconds before the killing curse came into contact with them. The 'bubble' rippled with the impact of the curse, and Harry watched on in amazement, as it seemed to absorb the energy of the spell for a few seconds before it exploded outwards like a large shockwave. It almost seemed to avoid Buffy; instead it was as if the shockwave specifically headed in Nott's direction and sent him flying towards the solid, stone wall behind him with a sickening crunch, he fell down against it like a toy doll.

"What the freakin' hell was that?" Buffy exclaimed from behind him, as he turned to properly face Dawn now that he didn't need to shield her.

Harry managed a shrug in his stunned state, as he put one hand on each side of Dawn and helped her to her feet. She too looked completely perplexed, and he instantly noticed that the colour had drained from her face.

"I-" was all Dawn managed before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into Harry's arms.

* * *

><p>"She didn't have to kick us out, the grumpy old bitch!" Buffy exclaimed as both her and Harry exited the Hospital Wing and lingered out in the corridor outside the entrance.<p>

Harry began pacing with a mixture of concern and the stress of the unknown. "Well, if it'll help her find out what's wrong with Dawn... I-"

"Damnit, Harry! What the hell is going on? It's the middle of the fucking night!" Buffy started to rant at Harry's mention of Dawn; she stormed up to him and grabbed him by the collar. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO DOING RUNNING AROUND THE CASTLE AT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING ANYWAY?" she gave a cry of frustration and took a deep breath and lowered her voice, after all it was still really early morning. "Just because you've gotten off scott free with the me beating the crap outta you and all, doesn't mean that-"

Harry pushed Buffy away, well as far away as he could with her stubbornness and slayer strength combined. "She came to me; she came up to the Gryffindor Tower to talk. We..." he ran his hands over his face. "We both had the same dream."

Buffy's eyes widened and she pointed a finger at him like a parent or teacher scolding a child. "Seriously, you'd better start talking mister! What dream? I just knew you and Dawn were keeping more secrets! I mean, what _the hell_ happened back there?"

Harry wasn't quite sure where to start or just how much he should reveal without Dawn's mutual approval. Thankfully, some of the pressure was taken off him when Lupin, trailed by Ron and Hermione, came marching up to the squabbling pair.

"Harry!" Hermione was first to call out as they approached. "What-"

"What happened after you went rushing out of the Common Room? When you didn't come back..." A concerned Ron interrupted.

Lupin cleared his throat. "Yes, Harry. Minerva is dealing with the aftermath upstairs, but it is extremely important that you share all the details of the encounter."

He somehow felt considerably more relaxed and prepared to reveal what had transpired now that there was a group standing before him, rather than when he was just presented with an irate Buffy. He tried his best to satisfy all the questions they were bombarding him with, although while constantly glancing nervously at the Hospital Wing's doors in hope that Madam Pomfrey would appear with positive news. Meanwhile, he also told them about the dream that he and Dawn had shared ("Why didn't you say anything before?" Hermione said with frustration), as well as the fact that the baby had been exhibiting interesting signs and abilities, although he deliberately didn't mention what had happened with the horcruxes due to Lupin and Buffy's presence.

"So _the baby_ that did that weird force-field thingy?" Buffy queried in disbelief.

Harry shrugged and gave a frustrated sigh, "I guess so," he said walking over to the double doors, and attempting to impatiently peep through. "You saw what I saw; it was Dawn's stomach that glowed right before the killing curse hit us."

Everyone else present, excluding Buffy, gave gasps of surprise at Harry's mention of the killing curse. Lupin's eyes widened and he took some urgent steps towards Harry.

"The killing curse, Harry?" he said flabbergasted, Harry could see his mind working overtime. "That... that is almost impossible. A magical child, from within the womb, was able to successful defend off the killing curse?"

Harry gave a quick nod, losing his patience with all the questions, when all he wanted to do is be able to see Dawn again and know that she was alright. But Lupin was obviously alarmed with good reason; surely defending off the killing curse could lead to fatal effects on the baby or Dawn... or both. He was absolutely terrified.

"Dawn... is she alright?" Lupin asked, despite Harry's growing stress and impatience.

Harry was thankful that Buffy took the opportunity to answer this question. "Who knows? The old hag in there kicked us out," she said begrudgingly. "Dawn passed out right after and we couldn't wake her up, so we took her right here," she explained, then began to pace like Harry had been only moments ago, extremely anxious about her sister's fate.

"What about the other three? What will happen with them?" Hermione suddenly asked.

With his thoughts only for Dawn and the baby, Harry didn't even want to hear about Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. "Who the bloody hell cares? They tried to hand us over to Voldemort and then could have killed Dawn!"

Hermione shrank back a little bit at his sharp tone. "Well, they shouldn't be able to get away with this, that's all I meant."

Lupin nodded in agreement. "And they won't. The Headmistress told me that they have been all sent to St. Mungos to treat their injuries, although Theodore Nott is in an extremely bad way-"

"What? That son-of-a-bitch is still alive?" Buffy was furious, her pacing coming to a loud halt. "I thought with the being hit by that curse and thrown into the wall and all would've done it... If I wasn't freaking out about Dawn right now, I would go there and finish the little scumbag off..."

"I can't begin to know what happened when the spell re-bounded, but it obviously didn't have its original effect by the time it got to Nott, which is presumably why it didn't kill him," Lupin explained, he then gave both Harry and Buffy a sympathetic look. "But you can rest assured, once he is well enough, he will most likely be sent straight to Azkaban."

"Huh? Azka-what?"

"It's a wizarding prison," Hermione jumped in with the explanation, as Harry had become accustomed to over the years he'd known her. "An utterly horrible place, worse than muggle prisons, or so I'm told."

Harry looked over to see that Buffy seemed to be comforted by this piece of information, and he just knew that he really didn't want to get on the wrong side of her anytime soon; she seemed to show little mercy to those who'd wronged her or the people she cared about. Then again, he could understand where her over-protectiveness came from; he too would do almost anything to protect those he cared about - but had he failed to even do that now?

Without warning, the doors to the Hospital Wing began to open with a loud clunk, causing Harry to jump back to avoid being hit by them. Everyone standing in the corridor looked to the doors expectantly, worry etched on their faces when Madam Pomfrey appeared. She had her poker face on, giving no indication on how her patient was, and this caused Harry's heart to speed up in the nervous anticipation.

She looked around in surprise to see so many people in the corridor. "Miss Summers, Mr. Potter, would you both like to come into my office to speak privately?"

The nervous knot in Harry's stomach continued to expand upon hearing these words_. Madam Pomfrey would only ask that if it was something bad, what if...,_ his thoughts trailed off, not wanting to let his thoughts go down that path. He found his eyes connecting with Buffy's and he could tell she was feeling the same way.

"Please just... How's Dawnie?" Buffy practically begged, this was the most vulnerable that Harry had seen the slayer to date.

Madam Pomfrey nodded sympathetically. "Well, for the most part, it seems to be fine," _For the most part? _Harry thought worriedly. "... However, I haven't been successful in my attempts to wake her."

"W-what, she's, like, in a coma or something?" Buffy asked, her voice wavering.

"I don't know if I would call it that," the healer replied carefully. "From what I can gather, it's almost as if all her body functions have slowed down in order for her body to recover or regenerate from whatever happened to her."

Lupin had jumped in explain to Madam Pomfrey about the baby's increasing magical abilities, whilst Buffy kept firing away questions at them, and Ron and Hermione were silently witnessing the whole thing. Meanwhile, there were a million thoughts running through Harry's head, he was trying to make sense of what Madam Pomfrey had said - would Dawn even wake up again? Would he be able to share with her his confusing, but rapidly growing, feelings for her? He tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Madam Pomfrey voice a theory that Dawn and the baby's talents were connected.

"- since the baby relies on Dawn for nutrients to help its development, one could assume that the baby also relies on Dawn's energy to be able to perform any magic from within the womb... this could explain why I haven't been able to wake Dawn," Harry heard Madam Pomfrey finish.

"But- but what about the baby?" he stuttered, feeling like his head was going explode.

"Yes," Hermione piped up. "Even if the baby did rely on Dawn to be able to perform its magic, what if Dawn can't recover from this? Surely the baby wouldn't be able to survive without her."

Harry's head began to spin, he didn't know if he could take anymore worst-case scenarios. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Ron standing there giving him an understanding look, and he felt slightly comforted that his best friend was there, even if everyone else was too wrapped up in everything to notice Harry's turmoil.

"That could be the case," Pomfrey replied honestly. "Although, in all my years as a healer, I've never seen anything like this, so I have no idea what could happen next... all I can recommend is that Dawn is watched over carefully, given some time to recover and then she will hopefully wake when her body is ready."

"Can we see her?" was the only thing that Harry had to say.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a compassionate look before nodding. "Yes, of course. However, I'd only recommend that it be yourself, and Miss Summers here, that go inside for the time being."

No one seemed to have any objections to this, so Madam Pomfrey went back in to attend to Dawn, while Harry turned to look at his two best friends.

"We'll come back later. You'll probably still be here, right?" Ron asked, to which Harry found himself giving an absent-minded nod. "We can bring back some breakfast too, if you want?"

At the mention of food, he only just realised how hungry he really was; ever since Dawn had come back into his life, his eating habits had been all over the place. "Thanks, Ron," he replied gratefully.

Lupin quietly cleared his throat to subtly break the moment and catch the attention of everyone, although his speech was directed more at Harry and Buffy. "Now that you've shed some more light on the situation, Harry, I must go back to the headmistress and contact the Order. Things are rapidly becoming more dangerous, especially now when know Voldemort is aware of both the baby and the prophecy. It is imperative that we decide on our next course of action as soon as possible," he paused and Harry could see the growing stress on his features. "I will obviously come back to discuss our options with both of you later."

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy responded, while Harry simply nodded. "I wanna hang here with Dawn for a bit... can you give Giles and the gang a run down on the deal with Dawn when you see them?"

Although Buffy was directing the question to Lupin, Hermione answered first. "Actually, Ron and I can do that, if you'd like?" she said, obviously trying to be as helpful as they could in the awkward situation.

Harry saw something flash across the blonde's face as she turned towards the two teenagers; her mouth crept up into a small smile. "Thanks guys," she said.

With nothing further to be said, and both Harry and Buffy keen to enter the Hospital Wing to see Dawn, the other three started down the corridor while he and Buffy finally pushed through the double doors.

* * *

><p>Harry had lost track of how long he'd been sitting in the Hospital Wing, in a highly uncomfortable chair beside Dawn's bed, where there was still no indication of Dawn waking. Buffy had stayed for quite a while, so the two of them were quite happy to make some small-talk instead of sitting there in complete silence. Harry obliged when Buffy asked him a little more about his childhood and how life at Hogwarts had been, in return she told him some equally adventurous tales of her time in high school back in California. Even though Harry had thought he'd been through so much in his time, he was shocked to find out just how much Buffy had experienced as a slayer, Lupin had mentioned that she'd died for a few minutes but he was shocked to find out that she had really died on a separate occasion and being brought back by Willow and the others.<p>

He was quite eager to ask her about being brought back from the dead, especially when he was under the impression it couldn't be done, his thoughts drifting to his parents. However, as if on cue, Madam Pomfrey came along to inform Buffy that some of her friends were outside in the corridor, inquiring about Dawn's wellbeing, so Buffy stood up and sighed.

"Argh... I'd better go and fill the mob in on everything," she said reluctantly, motioning towards the door.

Harry nodded and watched her go, Madam Pomfrey had lingered with something in her hand and she walked over and placed it on the table next to him. "You might want to see this, Potter," was all she said before scurrying away again.

He looked down to see a folded up Daily Prophet in front of him; he reached over and took it in his hands, turning to the front page. He let out a loud groan, as he looked at the headline and scanned the article:

_Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived and Now Father-to-Be_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Harry Potter, the Chosen One and Boy-Who-Lived, is going to become a father at just seventeen years-of-age and yet to complete his schooling. Yesterday morning, The Daily Prophet was flooded with dozens of owls with the shocking news, which has come fresh from Hogwarts. _

_However, The Prophet readers will be further surprised to hear that the mother-to-be of Potter's love-child is seventeen year-old Miss Dawn Summers, an American muggle (although should be noted, is the younger sister of the slayer), and it is thought to be that she is at least four or five months along. It remains to be seen as sheer coincidence or not that Miss Summers has been a guest at Hogwarts, for the past few months with several others including her slayer sister, Miss Buffy Summers._

_Meanwhile, Potter and his two friends, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger, had been MIA from Hogwarts, although it was expected that they would be completing their final year. This then raises several questions – when did Potter meet Miss Summers? Had they been in a previously unknown relationship, or was it simply the result of a one-night stand? And where have Potter and his friends been all of this time?_

_Highly-esteemed reporter Rita Skeeter believes that there is much more to this story than meets the eye. It is well known to the readers that only a mere few months ago, Potter was known to be in a relationship with fellow Hogwarts student Miss Ginevra Weasley. Which begs the question – did Potter fall into bed with another while he was still involved with another? Ms. Skeeter was fortune to obtain an exclusive that Miss Weasley, a sixth-year at Hogwarts, was seen on an angry rampage when the news broke of Potter's love-child, in fact breaking the news to the entire school herself. Could it be that the mystery surrounding Potter's whereabouts and the mystery behind this new discovery are one in the same? Ms. Skeeter believes that Potter has been in hiding until now to avoid accepting responsibility for the whole situation and that years of being under the Wizarding World's spotlight has finally gone to Potter's head, believing that he can get away with whatever he wants-_

Harry couldn't read any further, he was already fuming at all the false speculation which had resulted from the spreading news of Dawn's pregnancy. _If there wasn't a target on my head right now, I would see to it Rita Skeeter never writes again,_ a seething voice in his head said. _But then again, anyone who still believes Rita Skeeter by now is a completely deluded anyway._

He angrily threw the paper back down on the table, crossing his arms and falling against the back of the chair. He knew he should be immune to what the press wrote about him by now, but he couldn't help but feel like his whole world was crumbling into pieces, and it had been ever since Sirius died. _Maybe everything bad that has happened is because of you?_ A voice suggested. It seemed to be that anything or anyone that was connected to him got hurt in some way. And now what would become of Dawn and their baby? He promised he would be there for her, but what if he was bringing more pain and harm to her by being there?

"Harry," a hushed voice broke him from his musings.

He first glanced at Dawn hopefully, only to see her still unconscious on the bed in front of him, so he looked around and spotted Ginny standing beside the divider screen, which he'd had his back to. She was nervously fidgeting with the edge of the sleeve of the jumper she was wearing.

"Ginny? What are you doing here?" he asked quietly, noticing that she visibly relaxed when she heard his gentle tone, as if she was expecting him to start screaming at her.

"I heard what happened from Ron and Hermione, and I had to talk to you," she replied, rocking back and forth on her feet, while Harry stood up to face her.

He tilted his head towards Madam Pomfrey's office. "How'd you get through Pomfrey?"

She threw him an awkward smile. "After years of following you three around, I did learn a thing or two, you know. I also saw Buffy and the rest outside, they were all too caught up in everything to even notice me slipping by..." she took a sudden step towards him. "Harry, I'm so sorry!" she began to apologise, looking over at the Dawn. "This would never have happened if I hadn't have-"

Harry cut her off with a solid shake of his head. "No, don't worry about it, Gin. What's done is done, it would've happened anyway, it was only a matter of who and when."

He looked over to see tears in her eyes; she met his gaze and turned away with an audible sniff. "I-I... D-Dawn and I were becoming good friends and I should've thought twice before screaming at her in front of the whole school, and revealing her secret to everyone... _I_, out of all people, should have known about the danger I was putting Dawn in – that's why you broke up with me, after all."

Unsure of what to say, Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at random spot on the floor and they both fell into silence for a moment.

"How is she?" Ginny asked, walking beside the bed.

Harry glanced over at Dawn's sleeping figure, he only then noticed that she had much more colour in her face than when she'd collapsed, which was a promising sign, although she was yet to stir.

"Well, we don't know much about what happened, or why exactly she hasn't woken up, there have only been theories from Madam Pomfrey or Lupin," he explained. "I just wish she would wake up soon..."

In his peripheral vision, he could see Ginny's gaze shifting between him and Dawn, he wondered what she was thinking but she remained silence. Being around Ginny again further confirmed his yesterday's epiphany that while he really cared for her, growing up with each other was bound to do that, he didn't have any additional feelings for the redhead. Instead, all his thoughts and glances kept drifting back to the unconscious brunette in front of him.

"Do you think Dawn will be as easily forgiving as you are, Harry?" Ginny broke the silence.

Harry found himself shrugging. "I can't speak for her, but if you really are her friend, then of course she will. Anyway, when she wakes, there are a lot of other things to worry about."

"What are _you_ doing in here?" Buffy's sudden voice caused the two to jump around in surprise, although Harry couldn't help but notice how much faster Ginny's reflexes were.

"I-" Ginny began before Harry cut her off.

"It's alright, Buffy. She was worried about Dawn."

"And I came to apologise, for what it's worth... I made a terrible mistake, and I'm going to make it up to you, to everyone," Ginny added, looking apprehensively towards the blonde slayer.

Although Buffy's face relaxed somewhat, Harry could tell from her body language that it would take quite some time before she could forget about what Ginny had done. He suddenly cursed himself for his wavering thoughts earlier, knowing that if he decided to leave to protect Dawn, the woman standing in front of him certainly wouldn't forget it.

"Anyway, you two can cut the chit-chat," Buffy spoke up, impatiently, looking to meet Harry's eyes. "I saw Lupin out there and he wants to talk to both of us."

He nodded, feeling torn about leaving the Hospital Wing because he didn't want to leave in case Dawn woke up, however he knew there was so much to be discussed, and there wasn't really any time to spare. He was about to follow Buffy but he sensed that Ginny still hadn't said everything she'd come to say to him.

"I'll be there in a minute," he ended up saying over his shoulder, as he gave Ginny a look to tell her 'if you've got anything else to say, you better say it now'.

Buffy seemed hesitant, taking a few moments before she finally manoeuvred around the white screen and exited the Hospital Wing. Ginny took a few steps towards the door, resuming the earlier fidgeting of her sleeve and refusing to meet his eyes.

"Harry," she said with a pause, as if giving herself a chance to back out of whatever it is she wanted to say. "If there wasn't this prophecy and everything that has happened lately... would we have gotten back together after this war was through?"

_Oh Merlin_,he thought, knowing that he had to tread lightly in this situation. "I really don't know, Gin," he replied honestly. "We all know that things can change in the blink of an eye, so who knows what would have happened, or what else could've happened instead, if this prophecy didn't... I don't know."

She nodded solemnly, taking a couple more steps to leave, however she suddenly stopped at the white divider screen, clutching onto it with her left hand, as she spun around to look at him.

"I can't walk out of here without asking you," she spoke quietly. "I know you were never the best at expressing how you felt when we were together, but did you feel the same way about me?"

Harry had wished so hard that Ginny wouldn't ask him this question. Yes, the previous school year when they were going out he did think that Ginny was the one for him, and so if he was going to answer this question truthfully, he could say yes. But then again, a lot had changed since then, and now something else had come along, even if it was something he didn't completely understand, he knew that he had closed the book on his relationship with Ginny. The trouble was, he could see it from the sadness in her eyes that she was yet to close the book on her time with him. If he was going to save her from further pain and to allow her to quickly move on, he had to help her put to rest any tiny fraction of hope for them that she might have, even if that meant saying something that could cause her pain.

So, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I-I don't think I did."

Ginny didn't reply directly to this, he could tell she was extremely upset but she managed to meet his eyes before she left. "Well... don't ever let Dawn go by without letting her know how you feel."

* * *

><p>"<em>- has only left her to eat and shower... I think he's taken the whole 'standing by Dawn' thing <em>way_ too literal." _

"_Shhh, I think it's kinda cute. Let's leave him there."_

Dawn heard two familiar female voices and then fading footsteps, as she slowly came to. Although it took a few minutes before she was conscious enough to be able to slowly creep her eyes open. When she finally did, her eyeballs almost felt like they were burning from bright light streaming into them, so she took a moment for her eyes adjust, peeking them open little by little. When she could finally make out her surroundings, the unfamiliarity caused her to push herself upright and gasp loudly in a panic. _Where the hell am I?_ Her next thought was of the baby and she reached down to touch her stomach, relieved to see that is was exactly the same as the last time she'd seen it.

The sudden movement caused her head to feel like it was being brutally attacked by a sledgehammer, so she flopped against the headboard of the bed she'd woken up in. As she looked around, she still felt completely disorientated and frightened, not recognising the small room she was in at all. It was only then that she noticed a single chair in the far corner, where Harry was currently sleeping with his head propped up against one of his arms, his messy, jet-black hair sticking up at all angles.

"H-Harry?" she tried to say loudly, but her voice came out much weaker than she intended.

Nevertheless, this was enough to wake the sleeping teenager, and he immediately sat bolt upright at the sound of her voice, looking around in a momentary daze. Seconds later, his eyesight travelled towards the bed and he spotted her sitting up in the bed.

"Dawn!" he exclaimed and she could hear the excitement and relief in his voice, as he immediately jumped out of his chair and approached the bedside. "How are you feeling? Is everything alright?"

Disregarding the massive headache and the extreme lethargy she felt, she found herself nodding. "Wh-what... where are we?"

He moved to a nearby table and came back to present her with a glass of water, which she eagerly accepted. "We had to move to a safer location and you were still out of it... This is Shell Cottage," he explained, although she felt like it didn't explain much at all.

She easily downed the glass of water. "But I don't remember, Nott was gonna kill us or something and then... what the hell happened to me?"

Harry leant against the edge of the bed, his legs stretched out in front of him. "It's a long story; I don't want to overload you with it all now. The most important thing is that you're awake again."

"Like, how long have I been out?" she asked, setting the glass down on the bedside table and rubbing her eyes.

Dawn watched as Harry checked his watch, obviously since he had been asleep he had no idea of what time it was. "Well, it is almost three in the afternoon now," he paused to do some calculations in his head. "So you've been asleep almost 36 hours... it's New Year's Eve."


	17. When They Are at Shell Cottage

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Wow, I don't even know where that time since the last chapter went. I suppose it's getting to that busy time of the year again and there are some holiday adventures coming up, which might keep me a little busy but hopefully I will still have some time to write. Basically, I can probably only see one more chapter happening before Christmas, but after the New Year I will have much more time on my hands again. Thanks for hanging in there!

This is more of a character-orientated chapter rather than action-packed, nevertheless I hope you enjoy it. I am also in the process of going back through and doing some minor editing to the previous chapters and I'm somewhere into Chapter Four now. **Delphinous** – because I'm editing, I will obviously get around to making some changes to that part in Chapter Fifteen that we were talking about and I do have an idea for that. As for the baby's 'awesomeness' being a quite full-on at the moment, don't worry, that last chapter was pretty extreme but things will be settling down for a while anyway :)

Also a great bit thanks to those other loyal reviewers of the last chapter: **Akalea** and **Penny is wise**!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Seventeen – When They Are at Shell Cottage<span>

"W-what?" was the only thing that Dawn could manage.

_Where'd the last day and a half of my life go?_ The panic about that, paired with the fear of what had happened in that period of time, was almost too much for her. Buffy had to be behind her being moved to this strange cottage while she was unconscious, without any regard for what Dawn may have wanted instead, that was one thing she was almost certain of.

"Dawn?" Harry's voice suddenly cut into her thoughts, she looked up to see him staring at her with concern. "Maybe I should go find Buffy..." he trailed off, preparing to move from his spot on the edge of the bed.

"No!" she said a little too forcefully, she was really too tired to endure her sister's overprotective antics, Harry looked confused. "I'm too tired for her right now... seriously, Harry, what freakin' happened to me? A-and the baby?"

"We don't know exactly, actually," Harry reached up and scratched his head in uncertainty. "But from where I saw it, I think the baby is the only reason why we are sitting here now. It somehow protected us, although it obviously came at a cost," he finished, gesturing at her.

"The baby's okay though, right?" her voice wavered, to which Harry quickly put her fears to rest by vigorously nodding

"Wait! So what, you're saying that I've been in snoresville for almost _two_ days because of the baby?" she asked incredulously. "I don't get it."

Harry shrugged. "Madam Pomfrey and Lupin seemed to think that in order for the baby to be able to perform such powerful magic, it relied on your energy to do so... basically, your body had to rest to restore itself back to normal."

_Fucking hell, _a voice screamed in frustration, although judging from the startled look on Harry's face, she realised she may have said it out loud as well. _Why couldn't anything be normal for once? _She thought with frustration, as she also pondered the implications of what Harry had just revealed to her. The baby had the ability to perform some forms of magic from within her womb, in which Dawn herself had no control over, even though the baby could put her in a coma or kill her if it got a little bit carried away. It was just another thing in her life that she couldn't have a say in, and this almost made her wish that the monks had never bothered to create her at all, it certainly would have saved her from all the heartache and pain.

Harry must have been watching the emotions display across her features, because he spoke again, as if reading her mind. "Madam Pomfrey wanted me to relay to you when you woke, that she thinks you should keep yourself away from any further situations where the baby may use advanced magic, because your might not recover if this happened again."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? Because I'm _totally_ gonna deliberately try and get myself killed!" she snapped angrily, to which Harry slight recoiled at her tone. "Sorry," she apologised, looking away from him, suddenly feeling emotional and her eyes began to prickle with tears. "I-I just don't know if I can do this, Harry... Dammit - I never cry this much!"

Trying to avoid further humiliation about breaking down, she had shielded her face from Harry by using her hands, a short moment later she felt the mattress shift beneath her legs. Puzzled, she peered through her hands to see that Harry had slid from his seated position down at the foot of the bed and now seated right up next to her, so she lowered her hands. The close proximity had made her current woes disappear almost instantly, as well as her breath catch in her throat, while both sat there completely silent. He then reached his hand, hesitating for a moment, before he finally brought it to her face, so delicately that it made Dawn's skin tingle under his touch.

Unlike the last time, Harry was the one to move forward, while Dawn remained frozen in the moment. He was close enough that she could feel his breath blowing gently on her face, when all of a sudden, the bedroom door burst open.

"Oh, _excusez-moi!_" a French woman, who Dawn thought she'd seen before, was quick to apologise; Harry pulled his head away with a frustrated sigh. "I am sorry, 'arry, I thought zat you were asleep. I'll let ze others know zat you're both awake."

She politely closed the door behind her, although Dawn had wished she'd had the manners to knock in the first place. Then again, maybe being interrupted twice was the universe's way of trying to tell them both something. Perhaps it was better this way anyway; she was far too tired and confused to deal with her feelings right now. Not that, while in the moment, her mind wasn't screaming for him to kiss her. She pushed all those thoughts to one side for the time being. Meanwhile, Harry had stood up and now was standing away from the bed, looking ready to say something to her.

"Who was the blonde?" she cut in before he could, she noticed a tiny bit of annoyance flash across his features.

Harry's body language seemed to drop slightly in defeat. "Oh, uh, that's Fleur – she's part of the Order and married to Bill, Ron's eldest brother. Actually, this is their house," he explained, motioning to the walls around them. "I feel kind of guilty having everyone intruding in on them, considering they've only been married six months."

_Everyone?_ she immediately thought. "Who's every-"

"Dawn?" her sister's voice carried loudly from the hallway, as the door once again opened and Buffy made her swift entrance, followed behind by Willow. Dawn could see the relief was over her when Buffy saw that she was finally awake. "Oh my god, you're awake!" Buffy was across the room in seconds and enveloping her into a tight embrace. "I was freaking out for a while there," the blonde spoke into her shoulder before she finally pulled away.

Willow was second to lean over and pull her into an embrace. "Glad you're to see you awake, Dawnie," she said with relief. Now with everyone standing around her, Dawn wanted to get up, not to mention she was already sick of being couped up in bed. She pulled the covers back and went to swing her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Hey!" Buffy was quick to scold her. "Don't you even think about it, missy! Stay right there, you only just woke up again."

She sighed and looked over to see if she could get Harry's support, however when she glanced over to where he was standing moments before, she suddenly realised that he'd left the room without her noticing. She must have been too caught up in Buffy and Willow fussing over her to even register that the strangely comforting feeling she got when he was around had disappeared, leaving an empty hole in the pit of her stomach.

Feeling dejected, she looked back up at Buffy, who hadn't hesitated in making sure that she was securely tucked back in to her bed. She shook her head in frustration. "I should've known that because I'm pregnant, you'd smother me even more! I'm not sick, you know..."

Buffy folded her arms defensively. "You were out of it for almost two days, and that is normal how?" she trailed off, and Dawn knew she had a point. "Oh, and before I forget, Lupin will bring that Hogwarts nurse to do another check-up on you tomorrow, she was pretty peeved and we had to fight her to take you from her care before you'd woken up."

This immediately stirred up other emotions in Dawn, just when she thought she was starting to calm down again. "Hey - that brings up another point! You all just went and moved me while I was unconscious and couldn't have any say in it," she began ranting. "And now that I'm here, what am I supposed to do? Be on house-arrest until the baby's born?"

Buffy was about to retort back, however Willow stopped her before she could, knowing too well how to stop a war from breaking out between the sisters. "Someone tried to kill you, Dawn," she pointed out in a slow, calm voice. "You said yourself; it wasn't safe to stay at Hogwarts. And we didn't know if or when you'd wake, so..."

Dawn rubbed her hands over her face, sighing once more, although she was extremely grateful for Willow's interjection because she was really not in the mood to get into another argument with Buffy. With all the stress that had been surrounding her from day one, she would be surprised if the baby managed to turn out even half-normal. _Then again, the baby isn't normal, is it?_ she thought absurdly.

"You're probably hungry," Buffy cut into the momentary silence, to which she eagerly nodded. "I'll get Fleur to bring something up."

Another thought that she hadn't had a chance to ponder suddenly struck her. "Hey... who else is here? Where's Giles and the others?"

Willow and Buffy both looked at each other meaningfully, before Buffy turned back and made eye contact with her. "They're not here; we'll tell you all about it after you've eaten something."

_They're not here?_ The words reverberated in Dawn's head, while Buffy rushed out of the room, her footsteps fading away. Willow had lingered in the room, stopping her from over-thinking Buffy's last words.

The redhead looked over at Dawn. "About before, Dawnie," she began. "You may have been out to the world when we had to move you, doesn't there wasn't someone thinking about what you wanted – Harry got into a few arguments with Buffy about it."

* * *

><p>When they'd arrived at Shell Cottage the day before, everyone had been warned about the magic and wards protecting the cottage and not to cross-over the boundaries. Knowing this all too well, Harry had no intentions of crossing the edge of the wards; however he certainly wanted to get away from the house as far as he could. Which brought him to the cliff adjacent to the cottage, where he sat with his legs outstretch and his feet just managing to dangle over the cliff's edge, with the chilling, winter wind blowing right through him.<p>

He sat there brooding over everything, especially the most recent week of his life. He thought that his life was confusing enough before this week had even begun, but now he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He felt like it was one of those times when he could really use a father or even his godfather to talk to, and he sombrely wondered what Sirius might have done or said if he was alive to see him right now.

The echoing of a nearby cracking sound, as someone apparated beside the house, caught Harry's attention; he listened to the crunching sound of the ground beneath their feet, which got louder and louder as whoever it was unexpectedly approached him, obviously having spotted him wallowing in self-pity.

"Harry," he heard an older male voice simply say and he turned and glanced up over his shoulder to see Lupin standing nearby. "Everything alright?"

"Fine," Harry mumbled in a tone that said 'I'm actually not fine, but I don't want to talk about it', Lupin seemed to get the idea because he didn't push any further, which was one of the things he liked about the older wizard.

"I heard from Bill that Dawn is finally awake, which is extremely good news," Lupin said, sounding genuinely relieved, Harry figured this was because the werewolf had grown to care about Dawn, having had the good fortune of spending the last few months with her - he only wished the same could've been said for himself. "Is everything okay with her and the baby?"

Harry nodded, looking to stare back out across the cliff edge. "Everything seems to be alright, thankfully."

"Although you don't look very excited about that," Lupin observed, just when Harry thought that he had avoided the 'deep and meaningful talk' with him.

Harry dropped his head, finding a random rock to stare at. "I'm happy about that, don't get me wrong, but... uh, it's complicated."

Harry plucked the courage to look back up and noticed Lupin's frown turn into a look of understanding. "Trust me - with a woman, it always is," he gave Harry a pat on the shoulder. "The best thing you can do is talk to her, know where you both stand."

Without waiting for a response, the werewolf turned and headed towards the house, leaving just Harry and the sound of the waves crashing into the cliff below. He knew that Lupin had a good point, with all the conflicting emotions he was going through, surely Dawn had her own, and they both really needed to get them out in the open and talk about it with each other. The primary thing that frightened him about having that talk was if he found out that their feelings about each other were quite different, this baby meant that they would be connected now for probably the rest of their lives, and he didn't want to imagine if things turned bitter between them.

Deciding that he couldn't just sit there any longer avoiding what had to be done, he pushed himself up and wandered towards the house. However, he'd only made it halfway before the door opened and Ron came walking straight towards him.

"Hey Harry," Ron greeted. "Lupin told me you were out here - what are you doing out here? I heard that Dawn woke up."

Harry nodded, almost robotically. "I know, I was there when she did... I just wanted to get some fresh air."

Ron stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and visibly shivered. "Blimey! Why on earth would you want to do that? It's bloody freezing out here!" Harry shrugged nonchalantly. "In fact, because it's so cold, Bill sent me out here to get some more firewood from the garden, want to help me?"

"Sure," he replied, helping Ron was probably a good distraction for him and he missed just being able to hang out with his best friend, so he followed him down the side of the house and around into the garden.

They passed their tent, which had been set up at the start of the garden for extra accommodation, considering how limited the space was inside the cottage, and approached a small shed at the back of the garden, where Bill and Fleur stored their firewood. As they entered the shed, they were met with large piles of whole logs, which obviously needed to be cut down to a more appropriate size before they could be used. They silently set to work chopping the logs apart, with the help of a breaking charm, and then started a new pile of the chopped wood right near the shed door.

"So," Ron eventually broke the silence, while they got to work, Harry could hear the hesitation in his voice. "I haven't had a chance to ask you yet because you've either had other things to worry about, or Hermione has been around... We're best mates, Harry; you can't keep me in the dark about, well, what happened with you and Dawn, if you know what I mean..."

Harry frowned, his first thought was that Ron had seen him and Dawn's almost kiss in the Room of Requirement, but when he turned to look at his best friend and saw his raised eyebrows, he suddenly caught on to what Ron was getting at. Harry found his cheeks colouring, talking to Ron about his first kiss with Cho was one thing, discussing what had happened that night with Dawn was a completely different thing, especially when his first time had been under such unusual circumstances.

"Come on, mate," Ron urged when Harry was slow to reply. "I know you said that it was the prophecy's doing, but you can't blame a bloke for asking, they're supposed to tell each other what they're in for."

"Uh well," he began cautiously, he may not have had a choice in what happened back in London but he certainly had a choice in who knew exactly what had happened, and even though he usually shared everything with Ron, he felt like what had happened between him and Dawn was something that should stay between them. "It's all a bit of a blur actually," he tried to lie convincingly. "The prophecy made it all happen so fast that I don't really remember much... sorry to disappoint you."

This was far from the truth; in fact Harry remembered everything quite clearly, although when he thought back to it, the memories played out like it was a stranger with his face instead because he certainly wasn't in his right mind back then.

Meanwhile, Ron had obviously bought the lie; he briefly rested his hand on Harry's shoulder and threw him a sympathetic look. "Merlin, what a tough break."

Moving over to start gathering a collection of the newly chopped logs in his arms, Harry muttered an agreement. He was sure that Ron was picking up on the 'I really don't want to talk about it' vibes that he was throwing out, because the two fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Harry thought it best to change the subject quickly.

He cleared his throat. "So how are things going with you and Hermione? I've noticed there haven't been as many rows lately."

As Ron also went to gather up some firewood, Harry spotted a goofy smile plastered across his face, which almost gave him an acceptable answer in itself. Ron and Harry usually shared everything with each other, but with everything that had happened in the past week and limited chances to talk privately, it was obvious that there was something that Ron had yet to share with him.

"Something finally happened, didn't it?" Harry asked, although slightly disbelieving that his friends had managed to put aside their stubbornness to tell each other what Harry could so obviously see, that they both had strong feelings for each other. He and Ron were standing in the shed with armfuls of firewood; Ron was standing in front of the door but hadn't made a move to leave.

"Well actually... it did!" Ron exclaimed; Harry could see that he was deliriously happy and just dying to spill the beans. "I kissed her the other night."

Harry found his eyes widening, knowing that this was a big development for the pair. "W-wow, when did this happen? What did she do?" he asked the redhead.

The grin remained firmly etched on Ron's face, so Harry already had a pretty good idea that Hermione had reacted well. "Well, it happened two nights ago, in the Common Room after you'd gone back up to the dorms. Hermione was rattling on about you, we were both concerned about you, and then out of nowhere, I somehow managed to pluck the courage to go ahead and kiss her," Ron recounted, while Harry became aware of how heavy the logs in his arms were getting, however Ron seemed too involved in his story to notice this too. "She was definitely surprised at first, but then – she kissed me back!"

"That's brilliant, mate," Harry replied enthusiastically, realising how nice it was to have the topic of conversation on someone besides him or Dawn for once and he was also happy for his friends.

Ron nodded. "I mean, we had a chance to talk about it in the tent last night, while you were up with Dawn, and she was worried about ruining our friendship but in the end we decided to take it slow," he continued on, as Harry's arms began to shake and he feared that he would drop the entire lot. "But, blimey, Harry... I don't know why we didn't do anything sooner!"

Harry felt himself returning the smile, although he was pre-occupied contemplating over both Ron's last words and also what Lupin had said before; he knew he had to do something, he was going to finally talk to Dawn, even if he didn't fully understand his current feelings he had to know if there was something there for her too.

He was relieved when Ron finally kicked the shed door open with his leg, allowing them to both head back up to the house, both chatting and there was even some laughing, reminding Harry of when things were much simpler.

* * *

><p>After Buffy had brought her a much-needed meal, looming over her like a parent with a child to make sure Dawn had finished her plate, she'd left Dawn to get some more rest. However, Dawn somehow knew that this wouldn't be easy, since Harry had disappeared off somewhere and it was like this strangely made her unsettled enough to not be able to find sleep. The more she thought about it, not taking into account the past day and a half of sleeping, somehow the only good sleep that she'd managed to have over the past week was when Harry was nearby. She assumed that this was another one of those weird, special baby-related things.<p>

Looking around and spotting her suitcase sitting over in the corner of the room, she realised that she really needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes. She got up, slightly shakily at first, and then began to search through her suitcase; suddenly realising many of her clothes were probably not going to not fit her growing stomach, particularly her more fitted and tight clothing. She found herself groaning in frustration, throwing aside the clothes that wouldn't fit into a messy pile on the floor.

_What am I gonna do as I get bigger?_ She thought angrily. _It's not as if I can go shopping at the nearest mall._

Dejectedly, she ended up selecting a pair of sweatpants, long-sleeved top and a thick, knitted cardigan, thinking that she probably looked quite trashy but there was certainly nothing she could do about it. Then again, why was she so worried - who exactly was going to see her like this anyway? The dismal thought that she was trapped in this house for who knows how long occurred to her.

Her next dilemma came when she quietly opened the door and took a step into the hallway, almost expecting Buffy to come running at her out of nowhere to force her back into bed, she stopped when she realised she had no idea where the bathroom was. She gazed around, the staircase leading downstairs was directly opposite her bedroom and there were several doors to both her left and right. As if on cue, the sound of momentary sound of gushing water, followed by the opening of the door directly left of her bedroom.

"Oh," Hermione was surprised when she spotted Dawn lingering in the doorway, after her momentary surprise she appeared glad to see her. "Hello, Dawn. It's wonderful to see that you've recovered and are up and about again."

"Thanks," Dawn threw back a smile; she then glanced cautiously at the staircase. "According to my sister, I'm actually not supposed to be up, Buffy being bossy and all... Please don't tell her - she thinks I'm asleep, but I kinda need a shower - I'm starting to smell so bad, the homeless wouldn't want me," she joked and the witch nodded her head to convey that she wouldn't sell Dawn out. "I didn't know you guys were here too, you and Ron both came with Harry, right?"

Hermione once again nodded. "We're a team, we stick together," she then lowered her voice in case others were listening in. "Besides we've still got horcruxes to find. Harry told us both about how you found the diadem in the Room of Requirement - that is absolutely incredible; I've never read of anything like that before... Perhaps the baby might be able to shed some light onto the next one, without any more risk to you, let's hope," Hermione trailed off and Dawn watched as her eyes curiously travelled towards the mess on the bedroom floor behind her.

Dawn quickly waved that off. "Just tryin' to find something that actually fits now," she replied, placing the hand that wasn't holding her change of clothes on her abdomen. "I'm totally gonna be screwed soon, especially if I can't leave to go shopping."

"Actually," Hermione trailed off, deep in thought. "Most of your clothes shouldn't be too hard to alter slightly, with magic of course," Dawn eyes widened, that possibility had not occurred to her. "I could attempt to do that for you if you'd like?"

She eagerly nodded, feeling quite relieved that she didn't have to spend the rest of her pregnancy in her shoddiest clothing, but at the same time slightly disappointed that there wasn't a need to go shopping, not that she could anyway. She already really missed being able to just do all that 'normal' activities she used to be able to do without fear of being killed; she loved her shopping as much as the next girl. Furthermore, would she be able to go shopping or anything in the near future? A grim thought of being hidden away with her child for years and years to come, until Voldemort was finally defeated, stuck her with terror.

She took a deep breath and steadied her thoughts. "Thanks so much, Hermione," she said sincerely, then pointing towards the bathroom. "I'm totally gonna make a beeline for the shower now, but do you think you could take a look at those clothes when I get out?"

Hermione nodded enthusiastically, looking like she was quite happy to have something to do, making Dawn realise that there probably wasn't that much to do around Shell Cottage and she was probably in for a long haul. Was she going to lose her mind being confined to this place? She was struck with guilt when she considered how the people she cared about were forced into seclusion too, that they were in danger just because they knew her. _And Harry has put up with this for seven years how?_ She wondered, as she threw Hermione an appreciative smile, despite all the inner turmoil, before swiftly making her way to the bathroom.

Although she was still feeling slightly drained on energy from the events of the past few days, exiting the bathroom she gave a sigh of relief, feeling much better for the shower and change of clothes. When she re-entered her bedroom, Hermione was sitting in the chair in the corner with her nose stuck into a random, magical book, which Dawn probably would have found quite interesting if she wasn't so distracted with everything else that was going on around her.

The bushy-haired witch stood up, looking apologetic. "I hope you don't mind that I waited in here, I thought it would be less obvious to be in here rather than somewhere out in the hallway, especially if your sister happened to come upstairs."

"No, great idea," Dawn replied, slightly amused that she would think something like that would be a big deal. "So," she trailed off, glancing around at the mess of clothes on the floor in front of her.

Hermione placed her book down on the chair and then asked permission to start sorting through what would be easier to alter, once again surprising Dawn with her politeness, after years of being used to Buffy rummaging through her things without her consent. They spent quite a while getting Dawn to try on clothes, while Hermione tried various spells to either adjust the length of them or to give the fabric more stretch it in to account for Dawn's pregnant belly, particularly thinking about when it got larger.

Both girls also used the opportunity to get to know each other better, and Dawn had decided that she liked Hermione, although she had also become aware of the fact that the witch had a bossy streak in her that did remind her somewhat of Buffy. One other thing that immediately struck her was the fact that she hadn't instantly 'clicked' with Hermione as she had when she first met Ginny. The sudden thought of Ginny made her miserable, realising that she hadn't been able to talk with her before she'd left Hogwarts, although she knew she had good reason to hate the girl now, part of hoped that despite all the complications, they were going to be able to continue some form of friendship. But then again, just because she was easily forgiving of what the redhead had done, maybe being friends with Ginny would still be just too awkward for them both.

After Hermione had done what she could, she crossed her arms in satisfaction whilst admiring her handiwork. "That should get you by for a little while," she said. "If you need any alterations in the future, all you have to do is ask me, or Fleur perhaps... definitely not the boys though," Dawn saw an amused look appear on her face. "Ron tried to make some alterations to his dress robes in Fourth Year, they were absolutely appalling! Although, if you get desperate, I'm sure Harry would be better at it than Ron."

"Thanks, this is awesome!" Dawn replied with a smile, deliberately avoiding making a joke of the double-meaning in Hermione's previous sentence, although it did suddenly bring up a valid question. She felt like she couldn't go without voicing it, so she tried to casually look through her newly-altered clothes. "You, Harry and Ron all seem close," she began hesitantly to which Hermione nodded, she bit on her lip while she tried to word everything in her head. "Uh, there hasn't ever been... like, anything more between you guys."

Hermione gazed at her knowingly. "If you specifically mean between Harry and I, then no," she replied with a laugh.

"No!" Dawn jumped to defend herself, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. "I meant either of them... just curious, is all," she finished, feeling stupid and knowing that she hadn't fooled the other girl for even a second.

"Alright then," she humoured her. "Yes, I do love Harry - like a brother."

A huge relief flooded through Dawn, although she tried her best not to think about why. She swiftly fired back another question to distract herself. "It's the same deal with Ron, I'm guessing?"

Although she hadn't expected anything because she was just making conversation, Dawn was surprised to notice that Hermione's demeanour had changed following this question; the older girl's cheeks began to turn pink, telling Dawn that her last comment was far from the truth.

The abrupt sound of footsteps travelling up the staircase suddenly drew both girls' attention, while Dawn was quick to realise that the familiar calming feeling was washing back over her, as well as a flutter in her abdomen as the baby moved joyfully.

"I can apparate downstairs, if you want to pretend you're resting," Hermione quickly suggested.

"Don't worry, it's not Buffy," she replied, absentmindedly placing a hand on her stomach.

Hermione eyes followed the movement of her hand, and Dawn could see a question forming in her mind, however she didn't get a chance before the bedroom door creaked open halfway for Harry to poke his head in. He was obviously not expecting to see both Dawn and Hermione standing there judging by the startled expression on his face.

"Oh, Buffy said you were asleep," he said to Dawn standing in the now open doorway, she quickly shook her head; he appeared quite sheepish for getting caught out sneaking into her room, especially with Hermione present. "Sorry, I was probably interrupting, I'll leave you both to keep talking," he finished, turning to leave.

"Wait, Harry," Hermione called, moving over to the door. "I was just helping Dawn with something and was about to head downstairs anyway."

Harry stopped and gave his friend an appreciative smile, stepping inside the room to make room for her to leave. Once she was gone, Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking like he was debating something in his head; Dawn could tell that he felt extremely awkward, especially after what had happened earlier that day.

"I know," she spoke first. "We've got a lot to talk about."


	18. When Something Finally Happens

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Firstly, I know the last chapter wasn't the best or more exciting, but one review? *tear* Oh well, if this chapter doesn't get a better response, I'm at a loss. Hehe. Once again, sorry it's taken so long, but it seems like every time I thought I was getting close to finishing, something would drag me away from the computer! Well, that's Christmas for you.

Speaking of Christmas, this chapter is my present to all of you – it's slightly longer than normal too! I really hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and New Year (amazingly, this chapter is well timed to be posted around New Year, not on purpose I can assure you, lol). Anyway, I will be quite busy in between Christmas and New Year and might not have much time to write, and then I'm on a holiday for just over a week (but may have some time to laze around by the beach and write then!) but won't be back until mid-January.

Thanks for reading and all your support so far, hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Eighteen – When Something Finally Happens<span>

"We've got a lot to talk about."

Harry certainly thought the fact that she'd admitted that they needed to talk was a good sign. Still not having said anything since Hermione had left the room, he found himself nodding in response, whilst Dawn stared at him as if waiting for him to start the dialogue. He was never really good at this sort of thing, especially around women, and never found the right words and ended up sounding like a bumbling idiot. Then again, even though things had been so complicated with Dawn, he somehow found himself more comfortable than he'd ever been around Cho, or even Ginny.

"Uh, what was Hermione helping you with?" he asked curiously, using this as a good opportunity to start the conversation rolling without having to jump right into the deep end straight away.

"Oh," she replied, turning to pick up a pair of jeans from the bed and holding them up. "She used her wand to alter some of my clothes," she paused for a moment, he could see some sadness flash across her face. "It's not as if I'm gonna be going to the mall anytime soon... How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Harry frowned with confusion, as Dawn placed the jeans back down.

"How do you deal with everything?" She began, still staring down at the jeans, and then finally looking up to meet his eyes. "I mean, you've had to put up with that snake-face trying to kill you for the last seven years... but it's not just that, it's all the people you care about, they're in danger just 'coz they know you. I've only had to handle this crap for a few months and sometimes I think I'm just gonna completely lose it."

She wasn't crying at all, yet Harry could distinctly hear the sorrow behind her words, and he would be lying if he said didn't say he knew exactly what she was going through or had those exact same thoughts from time to time. He stepped over and pulled her into a comforting hug, in which she quickly returned, she was only a couple of inches shorter than him so she rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"I really don't know how I manage it either," he spoke softly, not knowing what to say at first while they both stood there together. "Actually... it's probably because I have all those people who care about me; I'm stronger because of them. Voldemort probably would have finished me a long time ago, if it hadn't been for all of them."

For that moment that Harry stood there with Dawn in his arms, everything felt right and it was if the world outside and all its troubles didn't exist while they were together. He was disappointed when she pulled away and made no hesitation in distancing herself from him by going to sit over on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want anyone to die 'coz of me," she said quietly.

Harry immediately thought of all the people who had died trying to because of him – Cedric, Sirius, Moody, Hedwig... He still felt responsible for all of their deaths and he didn't know if that was something that ever went away, he certainly wouldn't wish that particular burden upon somebody else. As he was deep in thought, he moved to sit down, choosing to sit over in the chair in the corner instead since Dawn had made such a quick move to get away from him moments earlier. In the end, his thoughts weren't going to be at all comforting or insightful to Dawn, so he didn't say anything, and when he glanced over at her, she had a look on her face that he couldn't quite read.

"Dawn-"

"Harry-"

They'd both spoken at the exact same time, stopping abruptly when they had noticed the other wanted to speak as well. Dawn put her hand up and pointed at him.

"You go," she simply said.

He sighed and sat forward in the chair, his forearms resting on his legs. "I, I wanted to talk about earlier," he could see that she looked more and more apprehensive as he spoke. "I know it hasn't even been a week since I came back... But, uh," he began stumbling over his words, unsure of what to say, almost thinking that he should just go and kiss her if he didn't fear that there was going to be another awkward interruption. No, he needed to talk to her.

Dawn must have seen his hesitation, because she jumped in to do the talking instead. "Harry, I know we almost kissed... twice, but maybe it's a good idea we didn't," Harry immediately felt his heart drop. "This whole thing is insane! With the prophecy and everything, I don't know what to believe is real anymore. Of course, I feel attracted to you, Harry – it feels like there's something there," she paused. "But what if it's the prophecy controlling us again? I can't do it."

Even if Harry could see some reasoning in her thoughts, he couldn't believe what he was hearing; somehow he was unprepared for this twist in the conversation. "So what? We just ignore all of this?" he asked disbelievingly.

Dawn slowly nodded, although he could see she looked slightly uncertain. "I think it's best."

Harry gave a frustrated sigh and fell back against the chair. "What if this has absolutely nothing to do with the prophecy, Dawn?" he asked, his voice rising in volume slightly.

"I," she began, standing up to move over to the window, while Harry hung waiting on every word. "Please, Harry, just drop it."

"I can't just 'drop it'!" he stood up and found himself yelling. "I... I care about you, Dawn." _And you're having my baby,_ he finished in his head, though not wanting to throw that into the conversation, he wanted his feelings to stand alone without that fact.

Dawn turned from the window, Harry could see that her eyes were narrow and her lips were pressed together in anger, she threw her hands on her hips. "HEY! I HAVEN'T HAD CONTROL OVER A SINGLE FREAKIN' THING IN MY PATHETIC, STUPID LIFE!" she screamed, stopping to take a deep breath. "I didn't choose to be 'the Key', I didn't choose for Buffy to sacrifice herself for me, I didn't choose to for mom to die and I didn't choose this fucking prophecy! I... I _don't_ wanna start anything if I don't know if it's gonna actually be _my choice_."

Apart from being unprepared for all the screaming, he realised that he didn't really have any idea about half of what Dawn had said. Nevertheless, he was too caught up in his conflicting emotions to ponder it further – unfortunately, he did understand where Dawn was coming from, to have given up control back on that night was a terrifying thing and the foundations on which they were building a relationship were highly unusual. However, Dawn was unlike anyone Harry had ever met and in the very short time they'd known each other, he had already started to develop significant feelings for her. He just knew that it wasn't because of the prophecy, they had to be real. _Why couldn't she see that?_ He thought in frustration.

"What about the baby?" he asked stiffly, deciding to finally throw that into the mix, while cursing himself for even thinking for a moment that the conversation would have gone smoothly and she would have just come running into his arms.

She threw her hands up in frustration, still enraged. "I DON'T KNOW! But... but I don't need you doing this 'coz of the baby either," she looked thoughtful. "I mean, I know that no guy will want a seventeen year-old with a baby, especially one like this," she put her hand on her stomach. "But that's no reason to jump into something we don't understand!"

Harry was about to argue back, when there was a sudden creak of the door and Lupin appeared looking alarmed. He looked between both of them, and it was easy to see that there was tension between the teenagers.

"I was just downstairs and I thought I heard some shouting – is everything alright?" the older man asked them both.

Dawn had simply crossed her arms in a huff, while Harry felt a mixture of anger, sadness and embarrassment, and right at that moment, wanted to be as far away from this room as possible. Since Dawn wasn't offering any form of a response, Harry found himself give a stiff nod just to appease Lupin, who in turn eyed both of them suspiciously, knowing that in fact everything wasn't alright.

"Well," Lupin continued softly. "Now that I'm up here, I may as well let you both know that Fleur is just putting the finishing touches on dinner now and it will be ready in a matter of minutes-"

Harry felt too crestfallen to even want to continue his conversation with Dawn at that particular point in time, so he seized the opportunity to excuse himself. "Great, I'm starving," he hurriedly managed before racing towards the door without as much as a second glance back towards the other two.

Once he was the other side of the door, he paused at the top of the stairs and leant against the balustrade, dropping his head. What was he supposed to do now? He'd put his feelings on the line and Dawn was being so... well, it wasn't as if she was being irrational, there was conviction behind her fears, that was the most frustrating part. But what exactly could he do to reassure her that the prophecy had nothing to do with the connection between them now?

He could hear the muffled voices over on the other side of the door and decided to discreetly descend the staircase, which lead down into a small entrance hall with the sitting room on the right and small kitchen on the left. He could hear several voices talking animatedly in the kitchen, so he opted for the sitting room, hoping that it was deserted. Unfortunately, it wasn't empty like he'd hoped – Bill was sitting in an armchair reading the Daily Prophet, which boasted another horrendous front-page article about Harry, like the day before. The oldest Weasley lowered the paper as he entered, throwing Harry a smile.

"Everything okay there, Harry?" Harry was really beginning to tire of this question; however he tried not to show it because he knew they were only trying to help. "Thought I heard a something that sounded like a row."

Harry quickly shook his head. "It's fine," he replied quietly.

Bill threw him another smile. "Alright then, I had better go and help my wife finish setting up for dinner," he said before standing up and leaving the room.

He promptly flopped into the armchair Bill had been sitting in moments ago, and threw his head in his hands. His disastrous conversation with Dawn was stuck on replay in his head and he couldn't stop it if he tried. Although, whilst the words replayed through his head he was able to notice something that Dawn had said that he hadn't necessarily thought much about at the time. Dawn had mentioned 'the Key' and he suddenly also remembered that the prophecy had referred to her as that, yet he still had no idea what it meant. Furthermore, he had heard that Buffy had died and been brought back, but what was this about Buffy sacrificing herself for Dawn?

"Oh, hi there," a voice appeared in the doorway, he lifted his head to see the redhead American, who he'd remembered had briefly introduced herself to him a couple of days ago but being so caught up in everything meant that he couldn't quite remember her name. "You look like you wanna be alone, I'll just..." she trailed off, turning to leave.

Harry started to re-think the wanting to be alone; he was actually tiring of being left alone to his thoughts when all they did was torture him over and over again. "No, wait!" he called out, stopping her in her tracks. "S'okay, you can come in here if you want."

She turned and threw him a smile and immediately went to stand in front of the fireplace opposite him, which now had a roaring fire thanks to his and Ron's efforts from earlier. She rubbed her hands together and held them out towards the fire. Suddenly, Harry remembered the woman's name was Willow and also that Lupin had once mentioned that she was a witch, however able to perform a different type of magic from his.

"Brrr," Willow began, visibly shivering. "That's what you get for growing up in California – it's freezing here," she was obviously just trying to make awkward conversation but Harry actually didn't mind.

He decided to politely return the gesture. "It's generally quite warm over there, isn't it?" he asked to which the redhead nodded. "Well then I'm sure I'd be the same if the roles were reversed... So, uh, Lupin mentioned that you're a witch, well, a different kind of witch."

She nodded with another smile. "Yep, no wand. There are a few differences but quite a few similarities too," she explained. "Being at Hogwarts was cool, to see how you guys did it - I noticed that your magic isn't a physical draining as mine can be, probably a good thing."

"I wonder what would happen if you tried to use one of our wands," Harry said curiously, noticing that his anger and misery from his previous conversation was rapidly subsiding the more he talked about something else.

Willow looked thoughtful for a moment. "Not sure, I might not have that sort of magic in me... But now that you mention it, Lupin thinks it might be good if me and Buffy tried to teach you some of our skills though."

Harry blinked in surprise; that was something he and Dawn definitely had in common - other people talking and making decisions about them when they weren't around, it was actually quite annoying. "Wait a minute, so I should be able to perform some of your magic?" he asked, to which Willow shrugged and then nodded as if to say 'I don't see why not'.

"I would be teaching Dawn too, she's managed the odd spell or two before," Willow revealed, Dawn had never mentioned this to Harry, making him realise there was still much to discover about her – if she'd let him. "But with the baby and everything, we don't want to risk it until after the baby's born," he nodded in agreement. "The more prepared you and Dawn are about what's to come, the better."

The more he thought about it, he began to realise that Willow had an extremely good point. They didn't know how far into the future it was until the prophecy was supposed to be fulfilled and whether or not Voldemort or his Death Eaters would find them before that time. If he learnt from Willow and had some of her surprise 'tricks' up his sleeve, it could mean the difference between life and death for him, Dawn or the baby. Not to mention, if he paired that with whatever he learnt from the slayer, it definitely could also have its advantages in a wandless situation.

"When can we start?" Harry asked eagerly.

* * *

><p>"I'm glad to see you're awake," Lupin said with a genuine smile after Harry had stormed out of the room, Dawn sighed and managed to return the smile. "However, I'm sure both Poppy and Buffy would agree that you need to be careful of stressful situations, especially not long after the whole ordeal back at Hogwarts," he sounded almost fatherly to Dawn, something that she obviously didn't experience very often, apart from with Giles every now and then. "Although, I'm not sure what I was hearing from downstairs... Should I go down and talk to Harry?"<p>

"No... uh, it's all good," Dawn was quick to protest, she somehow knew that Harry wouldn't be in the mood for talking at that point in time anyway.

She moved tiredly to sit back down on the bed. Lupin was right, she was starting to feel quite drained from doing too much too fast, that and all the quarrelling with Harry. Furthermore, she was just so confused about it all, how quickly things were developing between her and Harry. However, they were having a child together.

_Everything's a total mess!_ A voice resonated loudly in her head. Why was she finding every excuse to push him away? She felt like a stranger to herself, that the person she was six months ago wouldn't recognise what she'd become now. And she was supposed to become someone's mother in just over three month's time?

"Dawn?" Lupin's quizzical voice drew her from her musings.

Dawn brought curled her legs up into the foetal position, so that her arms enveloped her legs, which were pressing up against her slightly-protruding stomach. "Oh god, I don't know what I'm doing!" she suddenly cried out with distress, tucking her chin down to rest her face against her knees.

Knowing that he was your stereotypical British man, who kept his emotions in check and rarely displayed physical affection, Dawn was surprised when she felt the lightest pressure of his hand on her back, in an attempt to comfort her from his now seated position nearby. By now she could definitely consider the older man a friend, and so she took this as an invitation to scoot over and bury her face in his shoulder. Although, she felt him stiffen slightly in discomfort when she did this, she still felt like Lupin seemed like the right person for her to lay all her troubles on, she knew that he would give his advice only when required, otherwise just staying there listening to her silently. This was something that she knew she would never get if she'd opened up to Buffy. Furthermore, he'd done such a good job handling her problems since they'd met, she trusted him.

With tears running down her cheeks, her mouth just began to speak and she suddenly found herself beginning to spill on all her confusing predicaments, particularly what had happened between her and Harry and how the reality of everything was starting to hit her. She realised that a breakdown, like the one she was having, was bound to happen at sometime - what she was going through was too much for one person to bear.

She also told him about how it had suddenly dawned on her that she would almost be like one of those damsels in a fairytale, locked up in a tower away from the world. Except, she didn't see any fairytale ending on the horizon, this prophecy meant that she would most likely never have a normal life again. Well, what constituted as normal in her life. And then there was Harry. She didn't know why, maybe it was everything that had happened so quickly, but she was absolutely terrified of letting him in. Then again, when she thought about it, she didn't exactly have the ideal relationship role models in her life, with both her parents and Buffy, or even Willow or Xander's relationships – it seemed like every relationship was doomed to fail or be torn apart by death. Throwing Voldemort into the equation of her and Harry, she could see anything they started heading down that path too.

She felt like she had talked for hours before Lupin had even spoke up, at this point she had managed to calm down enough to sit back up and look him in the eye, apologetically leaving Lupin with a very tear-stained jacket. He gave an understanding shake of his head to dismiss her apology.

"I know that it is an extremely complicated situation, but you shouldn't have to feel like you're imprisoned, Dawn," he finally said softly. "We can organise for you to go somewhere else that is safe and of your choosing-"

"No, it's not this place," Dawn quickly interrupted with a shake of her head. "'Coz I've barely seen outside this room, so I don't know what it's like... But it doesn't matter where we go, 'coz I'm stuck there... and with Harry too. Oh god, after I went all postal on him, what do I say to him?"

Lupin sighed, looking away for a moment before meeting her eyes once more. "Dawn, after all that has happened, I'm sure you can appreciate an honest reply," she nodded. "Well... from what you've told me, it appears to me that you are finding as many excuses as you can to not act on your feelings for Harry," he began, this stirred something up inside her and she opened her mouth to retort back, however he quickly held up a hand to prevent her. "I'm not saying that there isn't any validity to these excuses, however from seeing both you and Harry over these past few days... just because you are forced to sacrifice many things for this prophecy and the baby, it shouldn't mean that you should sacrifice any chance at happiness."

Although this didn't magically make all her fears suddenly vanish into thin air, she knew that Lupin was right; being with Harry and the feelings she got when she was around him seemed like one of the only lights in the dark and difficult place she had found herself in. However, there was still one particular dread that was in the forefront of her mind.

"W-what if..." she took a deep breath. "Voldemort is never gonna stop, the odds tell me that we're not all gonna make it through this, I can't-"

Lupin stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Regardless of Voldemort, there is a risk of loss of life in everyday life, in anything we do, and yet we don't use this as an excuse not to live. We don't know what's going to happen, Dawn, but we can't dwell on it," he glanced down at his watch and his eyes widened when he realised how much time had passed. "I'm sorry, but we are surely missing dinner by now, and after all the recent ordeals, I'm sure you're in need of a decent meal."

The idea of food was highly appealing, however going downstairs meant facing Harry, and so she hesitated for a moment. Then again, Ron's brother, whose name she had forgotten, and his wife had most graciously given up their home for both her and Harry, the two most wanted people on Voldemort's list. She knew it would be extremely rude to barricade herself up here, just because she was too gutless to face her problems and fears. She sighed and moved to follow the werewolf downstairs, only to hesitate again as a thought crossed her mind.

"Just give me a sec."

* * *

><p>As Shell Cottage was, in fact, a cottage, it meant that dinner for a larger group than what Bill and Fleur were usually accustomed to made for a particularly cramped dining experience. Fleur had gone to the trouble of somehow finding room for nine at their small, round table in the kitchen, even if two seats were currently vacant, including one between Harry and Buffy. Harry gazed around at the festive decorations around the kitchen, with tinsel and cut-out snowflakes dangling from the low ceiling, which he assumed was also Fleur's doing. He then proceeded to turn his attention back to silently push his mashed potato around on his plate, not bothering to make any effort to participate in the current conversation. Bill was filling Ron in on all the quidditch action that he'd missed while the three teenagers had been gone, whilst Hermione seemed to be completely enthralled in a conversation with Willow, who was sitting the other side of Buffy and next to the brunette witch.<p>

"Where are the hell they? Their dinner is gonna freeze over if they don't come soon," Harry heard Buffy say from around the table, he looked up to see her making a move from the table, the sound of her chair squealing on the floor hurt his ears. "I should go and check."

"That isn't necessary," Lupin's voice appeared from the doorway behind Harry, causing everyone, including Harry, to turn and look.

Harry's breath caught in his throat for a moment, as Dawn entered the kitchen behind Lupin. He had only ever seen her in jeans or pants in the short time he'd known her, and now she stood there wearing a somewhat figure-hugging red dress that cradled her small baby bump and flared out at the bottom to finish just above her knees with a small white cardigan over the top. Harry thought that he'd never seen anyone look as beautiful as the young woman standing before him.

Meanwhile, a short silence had fallen over the room, before Buffy had jumped up to embrace her sister, obviously excited to see that she was feeling better. Lupin had not dithered in choosing the spare seat at the far side of the table in between Fleur and Hermione, in fact, it almost appeared to Harry as if he had made sure that he got to that particular seat first, and this confused him as to why. However, he then saw Dawn throw Lupin a glare from across the table, as she occupied the seat next to Harry and her sister_. Did he just make sure Dawn had to sit next to me?_ He thought to himself, he didn't know the werewolf was capable of being so scheming. _Then again, he was a Marauder._

Suddenly, Harry heard a whisper in his left ear. "You might want to close your mouth, mate. You're catching flies," Ron said in a thoroughly amused voice.

Harry retaliated with a good-humoured shove of his elbow into Ron's arm next to him; the redhead just simply chuckled quietly to himself.

"'ow are you feeling now, Dawn?" Fleur asked, as Dawn promptly piled her plate with various dishes on the table in front of them. "Oh, and I am sorry about what 'appened earlier," the part-Veela said, looking between both Harry and Dawn, out of the corner of his eye Harry could see Dawn shift uncomfortably in her seat. "I am Fleur, by ze way, and this is my 'usband, Bill."

Dawn smiled. "Nice to meet you both, thanks so much for letting us all stay here," she replied genuinely. "And I'm feeling a lot better, thanks." She then began to tuck into her dinner.

"What happened earlier?" Buffy's inquisitive voice suddenly cut in.

_Obviously never misses a trick,_ Harry thought to himself. Between her and Hermione, he just knew that nothing was going to remain sacred from now on. Harry felt his face heat up, while Dawn had been halfway through a mouthful of roast beef, only to cough and splutter a little.

"Oh, I just interrupted zem while zey were talking," Fleur came to their rescue; Harry looked over to see the blonde throw him a knowing look, he tried his best to ignore it.

Dawn hurriedly swallowed her food and was fast to change the subject. "So, is this everyone that's here? Where's Giles... or Xander and Faith?"

Harry noticed that Buffy, Lupin and Willow had all briefly shared a look, before the slayer turned to her younger sister. "Oh, about that – they didn't come with, they're still at Hogwarts. It's not like there's any more room here anyway."

Dawn frowned in confusion, although she wasn't the only one. "How come... did they find the slayer?"

Willow nodded. "They stayed behind to train her up and everything."

"Who is it?" Harry spoke up for the first time since dinner had begun; he knew that he would probably know whoever it was and this stirred his curiousity. Dawn had turned to look at him when he spoke and they awkwardly met eyes for a moment, before she quickly looked back at Buffy.

Harry was even more curious when Buffy nonchalantly glanced over at Bill, who gave her such a tiny nod that it could have easily gone unnoticed, however Ron apparently also noticed this.

"What's going on, Bill?" he asked his eldest brother.

Meanwhile, Hermione had silently watched the whole exchange, and as ever she was right on the money. "It's... it's Ginny, isn't it?" she said, sounding more like it was a statement than a question; both Buffy and Bill nodded in the affirmative.

_Ginny's... a slayer? _Harry thought in surprise, he certainly didn't see this one coming. Ironically, that important piece of information almost made his reason for breaking up with her, earlier in the year, redundant. Not that he had any ounce of regret, they weren't right for each other anyway and now he had Dawn. _Well, no you don't, actually, _a voice teased.

"Shut up!" Dawn exclaimed in disbelief, apparently just as flabbergasted, although she then got a pensive expression. "Hey, that actually makes a lot of sense," this earned curious looks from the others at the table, including Harry. "It's a long story..."

"Sod off - Ginny can't be a slayer!" Ron said with a shake of his head. "No, she's not going to be putting herself in any more danger. If we ignore it, it'll just go away, won't it?"

Buffy gave a thoroughly amused laugh, looking at the young redhead as if he'd grown another head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Don't worry, Ron," Hermione reassured. "Surely you know by now that Ginny can take care of herself, and especially with both magical _and_ slayer abilities."

Harry noticed that Ron still looked somewhat unconvinced and seemed slightly annoyed that Hermione hadn't taken his view as well, as if he just expected Hermione to go along with him just because something had happened between them.

"Besides," Willow piped up. "She's got Giles and Faith training her, I can't think of two better people for the job."

"They're right, Ron," Bill said, placing a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder from the seat next to him. "She is in good hands. Mum was a bit apprehensive at first too, but she's coming around."

The conversations slowly began to start up again; Buffy was getting questions thrown at her from all around the table, especially by Dawn, who was wondering about when she would be able to see those missing at Shell Cottage, and both Ron and Hermione, wanting to know more about the slayer situation with Ginny. Meanwhile, Bill directed a question towards Lupin. "Remus, I didn't know that you were staying for dinner," he said with a surprise tone. "Surely you'd want to be at home with Tonks on New Year's Eve."

"Oh no, if anything she is happy for me to be here for a while," Lupin replied in an amused voice. "With the hormones and being in the final stages of pregnancy, she is starting to become quite annoyed at me if I am around all the time. She was happy to have the space for a little while."

"Well, every bloke knows, you don't argue with a pregnant woman, do you?" Bill responded with a laugh, also earning a small one from Lupin.

"Hey!" Although Dawn was in mid-sentence with her sister, she had heard this and called out in mock-offence.

All of a sudden, there was a great atmosphere in the air; Harry always appreciated being a part of a large group or family, never having known that growing up with the Dursley's. He was starting to feel better, aside from the fact that the last conversation he and Dawn had had was quite a heated discussion, and that they had yet to say another word to each other since. Although, he was actually quite irritated that Dawn had barely acknowledged him since she'd taken her seat at the table, so he sighed in frustration and tried his best to become engrossed in a random conversation with Ron instead.

Just after Fleur, with Hermione and Willow's assistance, had served them all a chocolate pudding for dessert, she had taken her seat back at the table next Bill, who had raised his glass of wine in the air and cleared his throat to capture the attention of the table.

"Despite the circumstances," he began, his voice not having to project far for everyone to hear. "Fleur and I would just like to say that it is an honour to spend New Year's Eve with the present company, and that you all welcome to stay here at Shell Cottage as long as you wish and are welcome anytime. In any case... Happy New Year!"

Everyone else, including Harry, cheerfully echoed the eldest Weasley's sentiments and proceeded to clang their glasses together, in the spirit of the occasion their fears and apprehensions were momentarily forgotten. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dawn clumsily drop her glass onto the table, pumpkin juice spilling out across the table; however she didn't seem to take much notice, as there was a distant expression on her features. This immediately raised an alarm inside Harry – something was wrong!

Everyone else had turned their attention towards the pregnant teenager in concern, while she placed a hand to her stomach. "Holy crap!" she began, her eyes never leaving her abdomen. "I- I think it's kicking!"

"Oh my god, Dawnie. Really?" Buffy was first to place her glass down and swivelled around to face her sister.

Completely unexpected to Harry, instead of fussing over the experience with Buffy, Dawn turned towards him and before he knew it, she'd taken his hand and placed it half-way down her slightly protruding stomach. It only took a second, and there it was - it felt like something was tapping from the inside of Dawn's stomach right underneath his hand! He was completely lost for words, and just stared down at his hand in bewilderment. Less than a week ago, he didn't even know that this baby existed and now here he was, feeling proof of the existence of life he had helped create. Even though he was still so young, in that moment, he really couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else but Dawn.

"It feels weird, doesn't it?" she said softly, he realised that her hand hadn't moved from his.

All he could manage was a shaky nod, imagining that he looked like a complete bumbling idiot at the present moment from the shock.

"Ooh, is it still kicking? Can I?" Buffy suddenly said, causing both teenagers to twitch in surprise, Harry had almost forgotten that there was anyone else in the room for a moment there.

Much to Harry's disappointment, Dawn quickly removed her hand from his, and in turn he removed his from her stomach. She gave him a shy smile before pivoting in her seat to face Buffy, who didn't hesitate in trying to feel the baby's kicking as well. Fleur, Hermione and Willow had also gathered around in curiousity and excitement, causing the men at the table to shake their heads and chuckle at their antics.

Still feeling somewhat awestruck, Harry felt Ron give him a nudge from beside him. When Harry looked over, his friend hadn't even bothered to say anything and simply looked at him with raised eyebrows.

* * *

><p>With everyone extremely well fed and the excitement from the baby's first kick, the New Year's celebrations were soon in full swing. They had all relocated to the sitting room opposite the kitchen, excluding Lupin who had insisted that he go home to his wife, and had departed immediately. Thankfully, in the sitting room they had slightly more room to sit around comfortably and talk; Dawn was sitting with Ron and Harry by the fireplace, they were just letting the conversation take them wherever it wanted. Meanwhile, Bill was sitting by the door, introducing Buffy and Willow to something called 'firewhiskey', while Hermione and Fleur had been in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. After they had finally finished, the French woman had put some music on that Dawn didn't know, assuming it probably was something popular in the Wizarding Community, and joined her husband, while Hermione sat down with the other three teenager by the fireplace.<p>

As they sat there for a while, Dawn was relieved to see that Harry, who she'd noticed had been withdrawn all through dinner, had finally began to interact with everyone again, although she definitely thought that he was avoiding looking her in the eye. When their discussion naturally progressed into something about magic that Dawn didn't understand, she just sat back and watched the three friends chatter and laugh, in particular she silently and subtly tried to observe Harry.

She admired him for managing to be so humble and kind-hearted despite his horrible upbringing, and not to mention how much attention he got due to his distinction amongst the Wizarding Community. Dawn really wished that their baby would follow in its father's footsteps in that respect, because of who its father and with what it was prophesised to do, it was surely going to get just as much attention over the years. Now that she was thinking about it, she really did hope that it would also inherit Harry's amazing green eyes, Dawn's favourite feature of his.

_Whoa, get a grip, Dawn,_ she told herself, trying to shake away her dreamy musings and taking a deep breath to slow down her rising heart rate caused by the thoughts. Those fears she had revealed to Lupin were still there, and she told herself that she had to discourage any further stray thoughts or feelings for Harry; it would just cause more heartache in the long run.

Midnight grew nearer and nearer, by which point Dawn had been almost driven insane by her over-active mind, she couldn't seem to turn it off. She quickly excused herself from the others and went to help herself to some more water in the kitchen. When she returned a few minutes later, she noticed Willow was sitting over in the corner by herself, looking slightly wobbly from all the firewhiskey, and not to mention particularly glum, so she went over to sit by the redhead.

"Hey, Will," she greeted. "What's the deal with all the Angel-broodiness?"

Willow shrugged, this threw her off balance and almost over to one side, however Dawn gave her a steadying hand. "I-I was just thinkin' about Tara," her voice was slurring slightly and Dawn could definitely smell the alcohol on her breath. "She used to love New Year's Eve..."

Dawn felt a slight pang of sadness at the mention of Tara's name. When she thought about, if she still missed the witch after all this time, she couldn't begin to imagine what emotions Willow was still experiencing from it all. However, she also had a question she had wanted to ask the redheaded witch for quite some time, particularly with her current dilemma, wondering whether it would be insensitive to seize this opportunity to ask it. She certainly didn't want to cause her any further misery.

"Yep," Willow continued on. "And she would've loved seeing Hogwarts..."

Dawn gave an empathetic smile, briefly rubbing her hand across the older woman's back in an attempt to comfort her. "If you had of known, would you've changed things?" Before she knew it, the question burning in her mind had spilled out and there was no stopping it.

"Changed what?" Willow slurred, looking interested.

Dawn sighed, trying to think of a way to sound considerate but there was no easy way around this now that she'd started. "Well... say, like, you knew from the beginning that you were gonna lose Tara eventually. Would you've stopped yourself from starting anything... just to protect yourself from the pain?"

At this question, Willow suddenly stopped swaying and was able to look her directly in the face, and she knew that despite the alcohol, she was getting an honest, unbiased answer.

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p' sound and shaking her head. "Rather have those amazing memories with Tara than nothing at all... it was the best time of my life."

'_Just because you are forced to sacrifice many things for this prophecy and the baby, it shouldn't mean that you should sacrifice any chance at happiness...' _Lupin's words from earlier unexpectedly echoed in Dawn's head, which paired with Willow's response, had her suddenly questioning her reasoning for pushing Harry away. Yes, something could happen to either one of them at any moment, but if she didn't act on her feelings and something did happen, would the regret be too much to live with?

"Hey, everyone!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, drawing the attention of the room. "It's only a minute until midnight!"

To Dawn it had seemed like one big, fast blur, in which everyone had jumped, or stumbled, out of their seats and before she knew it, they were counting down the final ten seconds of the year.

The cries of "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" easily filled the small cottage from one end to the other, reverberating off the walls. Dawn gazed around to see that Bill and Fleur were embracing and enjoying a private, married-couple moment, so she redirected her eye sight and wasn't completely surprised when she saw Ron stealing a chaste kiss from Hermione, especially after the witches' reaction from their talk earlier. She then noticed that Willow had moved over towards Buffy and both had slung their arms over each other's shoulders and were singing an extremely bad rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne'. In that moment, it seemed to Dawn like everyone else was happy in their company, and then finally, her eyes linked with the only other lone person in the room, standing over by the fireplace.

Harry had a troubled expression as he looked over her way, Dawn had just opened her mouth to say something, when he swiftly turned and headed for the door. She didn't falter in pursuing him and was not very far behind when he made it out towards the foot of the stairs.

"Harry, wait!" she called out, a hint of desperation in her tone.

She was relieved when he actually stopped and silently turned to face her, without saying another word she closed the space between them across the entry hall and placed her lips on his. It felt like her heart had stopped in that moment, knowing full well what had happened last time they had kissed, but then her anxiety feeling quickly faded when she realised that she was still in control.

Meanwhile, Harry hadn't moved for a moment, slightly shocked by the suddenness of it all, however it wasn't long before he responded back. Right at that moment, Dawn thought that her knees might give way from underneath her, while her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. She'd never experienced anything like this, but it felt right. After a few moments, they both reluctantly pulled away and Dawn looked him directly in the eyes, to see they had softened in comparison with before.

"Happy New Year!" she said softly with a smile.


	19. When They Can't Sleep

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Wow, it's been a month! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday period! I had a great time overseas, but unfortunately didn't get as much time to write as I'd hoped, especially because I didn't want to write in public, I'm very self-conscious about friends or family reading my work so I don't share it with them, lol.

So, here's another really long chapter, so at least it makes up for the long break in between updates, although I obviously can't make a habit of this if I want to frequently update. Oh, and I just have to say – I'm really regretting making each chapter start with "When...", it's turned out to be a real pain in the butt to think of chapter titles! Oh well...

Lastly, you may notice that I tried to make a reference to something that fits the time this is supposed to be in the Buffyverse, and obviously you've noticed that by now that I've changed the HP timeline to fit with theirs.

Thanks to **Supernovarollercoaster**, **Penny is Wise**, **Akalea** and **Lanna-Nailo** for reviewing the last chapter!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Nineteen – When They Can't Sleep<span>

Dawn stared up at the dark shadows on the ceiling, she just couldn't seem to find sleep and she knew exactly why. For one, Harry wasn't there, he was staying down in that tent that he, Ron and Hermione had set up for the three of them to sleep in. Secondly, after finally deciding to throw caution into the wind, and give whatever it was that was between her and Harry a go by kissing him, she found that she was still coming down off that cloud, even hours later. Not to mention, it felt like the baby was practically doing somersaults or something to that extend because it had been moving so much since midnight.

She just couldn't describe it, perhaps it had something to with the baby or maybe it was something else, but she knew there was something special there between her and Harry, which if anything was strengthened by their earlier kiss. It was like there was a bond between them that she had never felt with anyone else before.

She couldn't lie there for any longer, so she pushed herself out of bed and wrapped herself up in a fluffy, white dressing gown that had somehow ended up in her possession since her arrival at Shell Cottage. It was at this point that she was thankful that she didn't have to tip-toe around as much, Buffy had decided to bunk with Willow and give her some space to get a good night's sleep. Well, not that that was happening anyway. Nevertheless, she was still mindful of not making too much noise as she left her room and crept quietly down the stairs, which squeaked slightly under her feet.

She had just reached the bottom of the stairs, when the front door, which was opposite the staircase, opened to reveal a very bright light. The light almost blinded Dawn's eyes, she winced and she tried to shield her eyes with her right arm. Suddenly, a person was lowering their wand, the source of the light, and she could easily make out the shadowed features of Harry's face.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he said with amusement, she could also tell that he was tired because there was a slightly hoarse sound to his voice.

"What are you doing up?" she replied quietly, noticing that he was still in his clothes from earlier, she raised an eyebrow. "And still fully dressed..."

He glanced down at his attire and then back up. "Oh, I haven't actually been to bed yet... been thinking about things out there," he looked directly into her eyes, which sent a shiver down Dawn's spine. "You haven't been to sleep either, have you?"

She gave a look of surprise. "How'd you know?"

He shrugged. "Well, who could sleep after all the excitement from earlier?"

"What excitement?" She couldn't resist teasing him, and was so relieved that everything was smoothed out between them, she felt absolutely horrible the day before when they were fighting. "Perhaps you'll have to refresh my memory, Mr. Potter," she said before she could even stop herself, finishing with a small giggle.

She watched as a lop-sided smirk appeared on his face and he walked across the hallway towards where she was standing, which was ironically almost the exact same spot they'd shared their kiss a couple of hours earlier. He cautiously reached up and pushed back one of the stray pieces of bed-hair that was obscuring her face, leaving tingles on the spot where his fingers had slightly brushed against her cheek. True to recent form, Dawn cursed under her breath when the moment was quickly spoiled by the sound of urgent footsteps above them, followed by the sound of someone being sick. Both teenagers' heads snapped up to stare at the ceiling above them.

"Sounds like your sister overdid it with the Firewhiskey," Harry said, his eyes still directed upwards.

Dawn tilted her head back down to look back at him. "Yeah, but I don't see her like that much - what exactly is in that stuff?"

"I don't know," he replied with a shrug, looking at Dawn. "But she is so petite, I'm sure it would affect her much quicker. Should we...?" he trailed off questioningly, glancing up the staircase.

Although she knew she was going to sound a little unsympathetic, after spending a couple of months with morning sickness she thought that Buffy could handle a self-inflicted, alcohol-induced bout of vomiting. "It's all good - she's a slayer, she'll bounce back," she said with a shake of her head, she noticed Harry throw her a surprised look. "Seriously, it's better to say outta her way when she's sick anyway; she gets all bad-moody."

Harry shrugged, apparently satisfied by this, obviously not wanting to encounter a grumpy slayer, especially when there was bound to still be some tension between him and Buffy because it had still been less than a week since Buffy had found out about the baby. Meanwhile, the sound of the toilet flushing upstairs and water rushing into the basin kicked Dawn into action. She wanted to talk to Harry in private, without anymore interruptions, so she immediately grabbed his hand, startling him in the process, and then quickly proceeded up the stairs.

Knowing Buffy's keen slayer senses, she tried to be as quiet but as swift as possible, but thought that because her room was just at the top of the stairs, they'd be able to make it before her sister emerged from the bathroom, which was just down the hall. However, they'd only just reached her door and she was in the process of opening it when she heard the bathroom door squeaking. She knew that she had nothing to hide from her sister, but knew that Buffy had a knack for being unpredictable and wasn't exactly sure what she would do if she caught her and Harry together in the middle of the night. Although, she was already pregnant - it wasn't as if Buffy had anything to get angry about. Nevertheless, Dawn wanted to avoid any unnecessary discomfort, and in one speedy motion, pushed Harry through the door and shut him in the room.

_Harry's probably gonna think I'm a complete nut job, _she briefly thought in the rush of everything.

"Dawn?" Buffy said in a somewhat weaker voice than normal. "I thought I heard something out here, what's going on?"

* * *

><p>Harry attempted to quickly recover himself, in the space of about thirty seconds he had been unexpectedly taken by the hand by Dawn and dragged up the stairs, and then he was further surprised when she had pushed him into the room and had the door promptly shut on him. Although he was definitely caught off guard at first, he hurriedly moved to stand beside the door in order to hear the muffled conversation being carried out on the other side.<p>

"_...getting a glass of water and heard you – you okay?" _He heard Dawn say from just the other side of the door.

"_It's all Bill's fault with that whiskey stuff he was giving me and Will... ugh, my head hurts,"_ Buffy's voice could be heard.

Harry continued to vaguely hear the conversation between the two sisters carry on, whilst beginning to contemplate the occurrences of the past two minutes. It was only then that he had a chance to wonder why Dawn had one: dragged him upstairs, and two: made such an effort to hide him from her sister. His train of thought was swiftly interrupted by Dawn's sudden entrance into the room - he noticed she looked kind of sheepish. In the meantime, he certainly hadn't had a chance to come to any conclusions yet, and this must have shown on his face because Dawn took one look at him and hurried to explain herself.

"Sorry, Harry," she immediately apologised, turning slightly pink. "For starters, I kinda wanna keep anything between us... between us. For now, anyway. Yeah and I kinda got a bit panicky there when I heard Buffy - sorry I shoved you."

Harry found himself shrugging, he could understand where she was coming from, and it would be easier to see how things went with Dawn without everyone else sticking their noses in his and Dawn's business.

"You did catch me a little off guard," he began with a slightly amused smile. "But don't worry, I completely agree."

"Great," Harry heard her say in a relieved voice; however it sounded like she was saying it more to herself than anything else.

There was a momentarily silence. She had answered one of his questions, though she was still yet to explain why she had dragged him up to her room. He chose not to speculate, thinking that he would probably come to the wrong conclusion. Thankfully, it didn't take long before she jumped in to explain herself.

"Hey," she said suddenly, there was a cautious edge to her tone. "Willyoustayherewithme?" she blurted out quickly, reminding Harry of his own awkwardness or nervousness at times.

Her words had all blurred together, so although Harry thought he had understood her, he promptly told himself that he had heard her wrong. "Sorry?"

Dawn turned even redder than moments earlier when she had just entered the room. She suddenly launched herself into a big speech. "Ugh, I know this is kinda awkward considering everything. But it's just I've had _sooo_ much trouble sleeping lately, besides the whole unconscious thing. I'm gonna officially go insane if I don't get a good night's sleep," she blabbered, while Harry listened half-amused, half-confused. He didn't understand what this had to do with him and what he had thought he'd heard her say. "Anyway, just to add to the whole weirdness factor at the moment, I kinda noticed that I seem to sleep better with you around." She shrugged and looked at him apprehensively.

Meanwhile, Harry was slightly taken aback - so he had heard her correctly. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't been the most successful with sleep either... except when Dawn was around. _This is getting quite strange_, he thought, as his mind also revisited all the other strange occurrences since the prophecy had come along. He couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next, feeling like there was always going to be another strange twist waiting around the corner for them.

"You know what? It's too weird," Dawn said breaking him from his musings, it was only then that he realised that he was yet to reply. "Forget about-"

Harry shook his head. "S'okay... I can stay," he hurriedly cut in, quite partial to the idea of getting some sleep himself. "I actually know what you mean, and we both can't keep up with this insomnia."

Dawn let out a sigh of relief, while he made a split-second decision to move over to the chair in the corner of the room. It was comfortable enough that he could fall asleep, besides he had already managed to when Dawn was still unconscious the night before. He wasn't quite sure exactly what Dawn had had in mind for the sleeping arrangements, but he figured it was less intrusive, or likely to cause any awkward misunderstandings, if he slept over in the corner.

"Uh," Dawn began, looking over at him with an expression that made him think she wanted to say something. "Here... take one of my blankets," she eventually offered, picking one up off the end of the bed and passing it to him.

"Thanks," he replied, immediately throwing it over himself.

Dawn moved back over to her bed and settled herself in, muttering 'good night' to him as she turned off the lights and the room fell into darkness. Harry quietly replied the sentiment and attempted to close his eyes, shifting himself to find a more comfortable position. Minutes later, he found himself having to shift his body position again. He heard a loud sigh from across the room, followed by the sound of the lights turning on again.

"This is stupid," Dawn said softly, he opened his eyes to see her sitting upright and looking straight at him with an unhappy expression.

"No, it's fine," Harry found himself insisting, even if he was slightly cursing his decision on the inside.

She gave a snort of laughter. "It looks totally uncomfortable! I asked you to stay here, so now I'm not gonna force you to sleep in that chair," he opened his mouth to respond but she cut him off. "No, seriously - I think it's totally all good if we share a bed, especially considering everything." She unconsciously placed a hand on her stomach. "Come on, please."

Well, he certainly wasn't going to argue, trying to sleep in that chair and be all chivalrous wasn't exactly his most brilliant idea to date. Anyway, he felt a slight flutter of nervous excitement at the idea of being close to Dawn. He slowly pushed the blanket off himself and made his way over to the bed, pushing off his shoes in the process. When he finally stood beside the bed, he decided once again that he didn't want to break any boundaries or alarm Dawn at all, so he settled for lying on top of the covers rather than underneath. Dawn let out a breathy laugh with a small shake of her head, she was obviously entertained by him but he didn't ask her about it.

Now the two teens were lying on their sides facing each other, their knees both slightly curled up in almost a mirror image of one another. It was certainly much more comfortable for Harry than it had been in the chair and he instantly felt relaxed. Their eyes locked and they both lay there in silence for a few moments, before Dawn shifted slightly, bringing her left hand up under her cheek, and looking like she had something on her mind.

"So, Harry. I was thinking about earlier," she trailed off in a hushed voice, the pause made Harry fear the worst. "And I was kinda hoping we could take things slow, you know? I don't wanna screw things up by going too fast – look what happened the last time we did that."

Harry found himself nodding in agreement, he certainly didn't wanna mess things up with her either, especially after Dawn had taken some persuading to give some sort of a relationship a chance in spite of her fears. Basically, he decided he was going to do everything to make sure that everything worked out, so it wasn't a hard decision to agree with Dawn's request.

"Yes, of course," he finally replied, earning a large smile from Dawn.

Dawn reached over and switched the light back off, now they could only see the dark silhouettes of each other while their eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. A silence fell back over them for a while and Harry found himself getting quite drowsy, although the calmness also gave Harry the opportunity to remember a question that had been burning in the back of his mind for quite some time.

"Dawn?" he found himself calling out in the darkness, in which she replied with a sleepy 'hmm?'. "I've been meaning to ask you, especially since you mentioned it again today. Uh, why does the prophecy refer to you as 'the Key'?"

Even though he still couldn't make out much in the darkness of the room, he could still tell that she had stiffened at his question. In lightning speed, the light next to Dawn's bed had been switched back on and he was hit with dread when he observed the expression on her face. _This isn't going to be good_, he thought, knowing that was the expression of someone who had bad news to share. But what could it possibly be that would have her so worried and hesitant in sharing it with him?

Dawn brought her hand up to her forehead. "Damn, you have to know, I wanted to tell you back at Hogwarts," she paused and let out a frustrated sigh. "But I thought I was dropping enough of a bomb on you without going into that."

Harry's heart began to speed up in anxiety, while he tried to run all the possible scenarios through his head of what she had been keeping from him. "What is it?"

"I know you're gonna hate me." She took a deep breath and seemed to think it over for a moment before she finally continued. "But... I promise I'll tell you everything tomorrow - it's not exactly a five-minute conversation and it might change things. I can't deal with that right now."

He found himself letting out a frustrated sigh. How exactly could he lie there next to Dawn and try to get some sleep when he knew that there was something huge that she was yet to tell him of? And the fact that she said it could change things between them... Although, the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that surely it couldn't be any more life-changing than finding out about the prophecy and the baby.

"I guess it'll have to be tomorrow then," he reluctantly replied, residing himself to the fact that Dawn could only tell him when she wanted to, and so he would have to wait.

"Thanks," Dawn said sincerely, moving her hand and placing it over his.

She then unexpectedly moved that hand and gently placed it on his cheek, running her thumb across his jaw-line in tiny, soft strokes. Somehow, this action instantly settled Harry and he felt better about having to wait to find out what Dawn had to tell him. If it was something that was going to change the relationship between them for the worse, than at least he could lay there in her company for the night, before things did change. He moved his hand up to take her hand in his and they soon fell asleep with their hands clasped in between the two of them.

* * *

><p>Morning came too soon, although Dawn awoke to the immediate relief that she had been able to get some descent sleep. As she came to her senses, she suddenly remembered why she'd had such a refreshing and successful sleep, feeling Harry's presence beside her. In fact, although they had originally been facing each other before they'd fallen asleep, she must have turned over sometime during the early morning because she was now lying with her back softly pressed up against Harry's chest. It wasn't exactly the first time that she'd woken up next to Harry, there was obviously the time they had woken up together the night she'd gotten pregnant, and then there was that time in the Room of Requirement back at Hogwarts. There was a difference this time, she didn't feel the need to jump away in embarrassment; now that they had both adjusted to their situation, and had even decided to see where their relationship would go, she really enjoyed his close proximity. She also got butterflies when she noticed his arm was draped across her growing stomach. This was the way things were meant to be.<p>

She also got the impression that the baby was also pleased to have its father near; she could feel it moving in her abdomen so much that she almost pictured it doing complete somersaults of joy inside her.

However, the contentment quickly slipped away, when her thoughts drifted back to their conversation from hours earlier. '_Why does the prophecy refer to you as 'the Key'?', _Harry's words replayed in her head. What would happen between them now, when she told him the truth? She expected the worse, knowing that no one would take the news well that she technically wasn't human, having being created by a group of monks. She almost wished that Harry had never asked her, so that she could continue on keeping him in the dark about her bizarre past... but no, she'd already told way too many lies.

All of a sudden, Dawn heard changing in Harry's steady breathing and knew that he was finally stirring from his slumber. Although she couldn't see his face, she got a distinct feeling that he'd opened his eyes. However, he didn't make a movement; she assumed that because Harry couldn't see her face either, that he thought that she was still asleep. Rather than disturb the rather comfortable position they had found themselves in, Dawn decided to lay there for a while, making him think that she really was asleep, and made the most of the moment. _Who knows, he may not wanna have anything to do with you when he finds out about 'the Key' thing,_ a voice appeared in her head.

She actually found it quite amusing that he hadn't made a move since he'd awoken either, maybe he was trying not to disturb her by moving away. Eventually, however, she decided to make him aware of her consciousness.

"Morning," she mumbled quietly, however this still startled him and she felt his body jolt in surprise. "Sorry," she quickly apologised, reluctantly pulling herself away from him and turning over to face him.

When she finally turned to look at him, he was in the process of reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. She reached out to stop him.

"Don't," she simply said and he threw her a look of confusion. "I can see your eyes better. I like them," she explained, and then she shied away, slightly embarrassed by her admission.

Harry gave her a small smile. "How long have you been awake?" he asked her.

She threw him a mischievous smile and snuggled into her pillow. "A little while," she mumbled into the fluffiness of the pillow. She then moved to prop her head up with her arm and looked at him seriously. "By the way – thanks again for staying, it really worked!"

He moved to do the same, while giving her a small shrug. She almost laughed out loud at his attempt to play it cool when she could easily tell that that wasn't the case. _Boys,_ an amused voice thought.

"I'm glad you could get some sleep," he replied, genuinely.

The two teens had been too wrapped up in their conversation and carefully observing each other, that they were startled by an abrupt knock on the bedroom door. They both sat bolt upright and stared at the door, there was another knock.

"Seriously?" Dawn said to no one in particular, while Harry fumbled for his glasses. "I'm kinda starting to feel like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston with the paparazzi scooping us out all the time. Are we ever gonna be left alone?"

"Now you know how I feel," Harry replied in a low voice, hurriedly slipping on his shoes.

Dawn sighed, also pushing herself out of bed and throwing on a dressing down. "I think keeping things between the two of us is gonna be a lot harder than we thought." She looked over and he was standing there beside her, they both heard a muffled 'Dawn?' and another knock. "Quick, you better do that apparate thingy, I'll see you later."

"One more thing," Harry said, pulling his wand out and casting that same spell that she had seen Lupin use so that people outside the room couldn't hear them.

At first Dawn was confused by Harry's actions, however she thought back to the few times she'd seen or heard a wizard apparate, including the night she'd met Harry, and suddenly remembered that there was usually a loud, cracking noise when they did so. He'd cleverly made sure whoever was outside the door wouldn't hear him leave.

"I'll see you at breakfast," Harry said just before he was about to apparate.

"Wait!" Dawn cried out before he could, she then stepped forward and pulled him into a brief kiss. She hurriedly pulled away with a large smile.

Harry let out a small laugh. "You _can't_ do that to a bloke right before he's about to apparate," he said in an amused voice.

She found herself laughing as well, and then he was gone. Obviously not wanting to leave the protection of the wards, she assumed that he had reappeared back near the tent, where he was supposed to be sleeping anyway. She briefly wondered whether Ron or Hermione would have woken up and noticed his absence, but that was obviously something she'd have to find out later on.

Whoever it was who was knocking on her door, had either lost their impatience waiting for her to answer, or had assumed that she was still fast asleep, because the door suddenly creaked its way open. She was not at all surprised at the sight of Buffy appearing in the room.

Buffy frowned when she saw that Dawn was just standing on the other side of the door. "Why didn't you answer? I thought I heard talking..."

"Oh, I must've been sleep talking is all," Dawn replied smoothly, mentally praising herself for her quick thinking, although she was still unsure of whether she was convincing enough.

Apparently she wasn't - the slayer threw her an incredulous look. "Hmm, you sounded very masculine... Come on, spill - Harry was here, wasn't he?"

Dawn shook her head stupidly. "Nope, you sure that Firewhiskey stuff isn't still affecting you?"

"No!" Buffy shot back defensively, and then walked over to pluck up a jacket that had been thrown over the chair in the corner. "Hey, I know I was a bit drunk last night, but isn't this the jacket he was wearing last night? _Dawn_!"

Dawn frowned; neither she nor Harry had even noticed that he'd left his jacket behind. Meanwhile, Buffy didn't actually look as annoyed as Dawn thought she would be, it almost sounded like there was a hint of amusement in her tone that was threatening to escape out. Although, Dawn could see that Buffy was definitely trying her best to play the angry-older-sister role.

"Hey, we were just talking for a while! Besides, even if we weren't - I'm already pregnant, it can't get any worse," she defended herself. She thought that she did have a good point there.

Buffy finally released hold of the jacket and threw it on the bed. "Well, that's kinda beside the point, Dawn..." she trailed off, she suddenly looked upset, however Dawn noticed it was more sadness than anger. "I just hope that you get to do everything you wanted to do before the baby. Dawn, don't let it change things..." She looked her directly in the eye. "Especially with Harry, I mean, just 'coz you're having a baby together, doesn't mean you both have to feel pressured into anything-"

"Chill for a sec, sis," Dawn interjected. "You don't have to worry about that."

Dawn did wonder if the prophecy didn't exist at all, whether or not her and Harry would've felt the same connection had they'd just met by chance instead. _You've gotta stop with all the 'what-ifs',_ she told herself. She knew that her caring for Harry wasn't just because of the baby, and that's what she'd meant when she said 'you don't have to worry about that'; although she got the distinct impression that Buffy had taken it another way.

"Good," Buffy said with relief, further supporting Dawn's thought that the blonde thought she'd meant that there wasn't anything between her and Harry. Considering they'd decided to keep it a secret for the time being, she didn't see any point in correcting Buffy.

"So, how's the hangover?" Dawn randomly inquired, happily changing the subject.

She observed her older sister and noticed that she didn't really look sick from her New Year's Eve celebrations; she attributed it with something to do with Buffy's fast slayer metabolism. "Apart from early this morning, it's all good," Buffy replied with a smile, then Dawn watched as her eyes widened as she remembered something. "Oh, almost forgot! That cranky-pants Hogwarts nurse is here to check on you, she's downstairs."

Dawn frowned in confusion; she must have missed something because she didn't know why her sister seemed to have a slight grudge against Madam Pomfrey, she'd been extremely pleasant to her when she'd been at Hogwarts. She ended up shrugging it off.

"Oh yeah, that's right," She responded, only just remembering that Buffy had told her yesterday that Pomfrey would be back to see if there weren't any lasting issues after she'd collapsed and been unconscious for over a day. "Breakfast first? I think the baby's telling me I'm not eating enough." On cue, her stomach gave a loud rumble; she was starting to find her appetite was really beginning to increase.

"Breakfast first," Buffy replied with a nod.

* * *

><p>Harry appeared in the back garden, where he thought no one would notice his sudden appearance, and then walked back around to where they had pitched up the tent. He checked his watch, it was late morning nearing on midday, he really hoped because it was New Year's Day and everyone had had a reasonably late night that everyone had had a sleep in. He wondered whether or not Ron and Hermione had noticed his early-morning escapades.<p>

He cautiously entered the tent to see that, while Ron was asleep and snoring his head off, Hermione was sitting in the main section of the tent reading. _Of course,_ Harry thought to himself. She was always the first one to rise in the mornings; he was beginning to wonder if she ever slept.

"Morning, Harry," she greeted cheerfully, without even looking up from her book.

"Uh, hello Hermione," he replied awkwardly, feeling like a guilty schoolkid who'd been caught wandering the corridors by Filch.

She must have finished the page she was reading because she finally looked up and met his gaze; there was a knowing look in her eyes. "I was wondering when you would be back," she said with a small smile on her face.

After all these years, Harry knew that it was extremely hard to keep secrets from the brilliant witch. However, occasionally, he still liked to see if he could get one past her, unbeknownst. In fact, he was extremely proud that he had been successfully able to hide the incident back in London for over five months. Surely, there was some sort of medal or award for being able to deceive his exceptionally smart friend for so long!

"Decided to get a hot chocolate before, you were still asleep so you probably didn't notice," he lied.

Hermione gave a snort of laughter. "It must have been an extremely cold hot chocolate at the rate you must have consumed it..." she trailed off and glanced at her watch. "Especially since it took you about eight hours to drink it," she said with another light-hearted laugh. "I heard you leave early this morning," she added, seeing the look her threw her.

He sighed and took a seat opposite her, the real question now was - should he continue to stupidly lie to her or tell the truth? He and Dawn did pretty much promise to keep things hush-hush, and he certainly didn't want to upset her. Then again, the ship had pretty much sailed on his attempt to lie to Hermione, so he decided to go with something in between the two.

"So," she trailed off, peering at him with raised eyebrows.

He sighed again. "Dawn was also up this morning; we just talked things over a bit more and fell asleep," he explained, which was the truth but not revealing anything else.

Hermione nodded and placed her book on the table beside her. "Something else happened though, didn't it?" She looked like a sniffer-dog on the trail of a stash of drugs.

"Bloody hell, Hermione," he replied, throwing her an annoyed look. "Have I ever told you that you're way too observant for your own good? Well... it's alright when it saves my life."

"Just not when you're trying to keep something from me," Hermione finished for him, she shook her head. "Although, you really are a terrible liar, Harry," she teased.

He found himself laughing and gave her a playful shove in the arm. "What gave me away this time? It's good to learn these things. I obviously have to get better at lying to you."

"Actually, this one wasn't as obvious if you weren't paying close attention, you'd be happy to know," Hermione informed him, he was actually glad to hear it. "I knew there was obviously something between you and Dawn when we first got back to Hogwarts, and even after we all found out about the prophecy and the baby. I don't think either of you are aware that you are doing it, but you subconsciously throw each other looks when you think there is no one else looking," she explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "And then there was yesterday, we all thought we heard a row upstairs and then I noticed you were both avoiding each other, not to mention – you were extremely quiet and dejected at dinner, except when the baby kicked and you and Dawn had that 'moment'."

"What moment? We didn't have a moment," Harry futilely argued.

Hermione smiled at him in amusement, whilst they were both momentarily interrupted by Ron's sleep-talking something that sounded like 'come back, chocolate pudding!' before he fell back into the rhythm of his snoring. "Well, if that wasn't a 'moment', then you certainly must have had one later on, at midnight, when you both suddenly disappeared from the room and then Dawn came back in minutes later, grinning like the Cheshire Cat."

Even though both he and Hermione had grown up in muggle households, he would quite often find her making muggle references that he just didn't understand because the Dursley's had deprived him of so much as a young child, and so he had no idea what the 'Cheshire Cat' was. Although, he knew enough to know what she was getting at.

"I don't kiss and tell, Hermione," he replied, even that wasn't the truth.

"What about back in fifth-year with Cho?" She laughed. "And I'm pretty sure I've heard you talk about Ginny before too."

"Well, it's my New Year's resolution," he informed her, holding strong. "My lips are sealed."

Her eyes twinkled with amusement. "You do realise that by saying that you 'don't kiss and tell' that you've answered my question anyway!" He crossed his arms in a huff, while Hermione turned serious for a moment. "You really care about her, and not just because of the prophecy, don't you, Harry?"

He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, yeah," he eventually offered, feeling like he was fighting a losing battle. Then, before he could stop himself, he found himself saying, "She's incredible." He turned red at the unexpected admission, while Hermione looked at him smugly.

"So, what are you both going to do?"

"Well, we both agreed to take it slow," he revealed.

Hermione nodded in agreement. "That's probably a good idea, especially if there is soon going to be a baby involved, you wouldn't want there to be any bad feelings between you and Dawn."

Harry nodded, appreciating and respecting his friend's advice. He was especially appeased by having a woman's perspective on the situation, not to mention, there probably wasn't another person he trusted more than he did Hermione. Thankfully, she must have sensed his reluctance to reveal anything else, because she swiftly changed the conversation and they talked for a little while about the whole horcrux situation, hypothesising where the next one could be and wondering what Voldemort was doing to find him and Dawn.

Soon, a slightly-tired-looking Bill poked his head in through the tent door, and informed them that there was a late breakfast being served inside the Cottage. While they tried to wake a stubborn Ron up, Harry made Hermione promise to keep what he'd said to herself. Meanwhile, Ron told them both to go ahead to breakfast, and so they headed inside without him.

* * *

><p>After breakfast, or brunch was probably a more accurate description, Madam Pomfrey approached Dawn, keen to see if everything was alright with her and the baby. When she had initially come downstairs, the healer had seemed pleased to see how well she appeared to be, and had asked her general questions about her current well-being. Now she wanted to check and make sure there weren't any underlying ramifications from the incident with Nott back at Hogwarts.<p>

They decided to go back upstairs into the privacy of Dawn's bedroom to conduct the check-up. Buffy had seemed quite insistent on being there for the examination, apparently slightly apprehensive about her sister's health. Dawn was quite thankful when Madam Pomfrey had stepped in to state that it was completely unnecessary, to which Buffy wasn't very happy about, but amazingly said nothing further on the matter. The healer had already raced upstairs to get herself organised, while Dawn lingered at the foot of staircase and leaning around to peer back into the kitchen. She managed to make eye contact with Harry, and so she motioned him over.

She smiled at him as he joined her at the bottom of the stairs, the first time they'd managed to be alone since before breakfast. She and Buffy had already been tucking into a large plate of bacon and eggs, when Harry and Hermione had entered the kitchen. Dawn had immediately exchanged smiles with Harry, while Hermione had briefly looked between the two knowingly before she took a seat at the table. Dawn had wondered what the brunette witch knew, and if Harry had said anything to her, but she told herself to ask Harry about it another time.

Meanwhile, Harry was looking at her in confusion. She pointed up the stairs, which was over her shoulder. "Pomfrey's gonna check everything's okay, you wanna come with?" she asked him casually.

He threw her a look of surprise and shuffled his feet. "I thought I heard Madam Pomfrey say that she didn't want anyone else up there."

"I don't think that applies to the father of the baby," she said with a shake of her head. "So, if you wanna join us-"

"Sure," she was surprised when he replied without hesitation.

She found herself grinning. She hadn't wanted Buffy there, things always tended to be a little melodramatic around the slayer, but she knew she wanted Harry there. He was the complete opposite to her sister, a calming presence. She reached over and took his hand in hers and they continued up the staircase, hand in hand, only releasing the hold when they got to the bedroom.

"Potter," Madam Pomfrey greeted with a nod when she saw them enter the room, she had brought a large, leather bag with her, and was in the process of producing multiple vials of potions from it.

Harry nodded back, while Dawn looked at the witch uncertainly and pointed at the boy beside her. "Uh, it's okay if-"

"Of course," Madam Pomfrey said quickly, and then added, "In fact, it is probably a good thing you're here, Mr. Potter. We should be able to find out the gender of the baby... that is of course if you both have no objections." She looked between the two teens.

Dawn was caught a little off guard, even though she was well into her second trimester, it hadn't really crossed her mind that she would be able to find out the baby's gender. She glanced over at Harry and found that she wasn't the only one taken by surprise, who looked as nervous as she felt. As she thought about it, she realised that she didn't even know whether she wanted to know or not, much less what Harry's opinion was.

"Uh, I-I..." she stuttered, making eye contact with Harry.

Madam Pomfrey simply smiled and said, "Not to worry, I left something downstairs anyway, that will give you the opportunity to discuss this."

In a matter of seconds, the healer had left the room, Dawn immediately turned to Harry. "I don't know what the best thing is... I never really thought about it," she said honestly, waiting for his opinion.

Harry didn't respond at first, it was only when she was silently staring at him that he must have realised that she wanted his input. He seemed surprised by this. "Oh... I thought it would just be your decision," he admitted.

Her brow wrinkled into a frown. "What? No way! This definitely should be your decision too!"

"I don't mind either way," he replied, scratching the back of his head.

She could help but throw him a glare that said 'well, you're a fat lot of good', and before she knew it, Madam Pomfrey had already re-entered the room. The Hogwart's nurse looked at them expectantly and Dawn made a split-second decision, deciding to trust her gut instinct.

"Okay, let's do it," she said, although wondering as to how the Wizarding World determined the gender. "How do you do it, though? I'm guessing that you guys don't have an ultrasound machine..." Madam Pomfrey looked at her in confusion. "Muggle thing, forget about it," she explained.

Madam Pomfrey ushered her over to sit on the bed. Harry hesitated for a moment, before following and seating himself down beside her. She pulled out her wand and proceeded to run some quick tests on Dawn while she explained the gender-determining process to them both. Dawn was actually quite relieved that overall, wizarding medical procedures and tests were significantly less invasive compared with muggle medicine. She'd definitely struck the jackpot there by getting pregnant to a wizard.

When everything else seemed to check out, Madam Pomfrey made her ingest a potion that surprising tasted like blueberries, which she ensured them both was perfectly safe, and then told her to wait a few minutes. The time seemed to go particularly slow for Dawn; she noticed that she was getting more and more nervous the closer she got to finding out the sex of the baby. It was starting to become all so real now, especially at the thought that she wouldn't just be saying 'it' or 'the baby' and would soon be saying 'he' or 'she'. She was scared out of her mind. For the moment, Harry had been awfully quiet, probably freaking out just as much as she was.

All of a sudden, Madam Pomfrey was saying it was time and Dawn's breath caught nervously in her throat. Unexpectedly, she felt Harry's hand find her own in an obvious attempt to comfort her. She was trying so hard to be nonchalant about it all, but was obviously not doing a very good job.

The ageing witch paused to throw her a reassuring smile, as she carefully lifted up Dawn's shirt to reveal her slightly swollen stomach.

"_Genus Revelare!"_ A white light shot out of Madam Pomfrey's wand and swirled over Dawn's abdomen before a sudden glow formed on Dawn's stomach, which had been explained as the potion she had ingested moments earlier. The three of them watched patiently as the glow slowly changed colour from white...


	20. When Harry Finds Out About 'The Key'

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Here we go, can't believe I'm up to Chapter 20! It seemed to be a bit of a struggle with this chapter for a while, maybe it was because I've been pretty tired or maybe I need a break (Lol, I realise I've just been on a holiday a few weeks ago, but somehow...). I don't know. I was thinking that maybe if I did take a break, I could really get into that editing of the past chapters, so far I've only done up to Chapter 7 – so I've got a long way to go. Then again, perhaps if I get enough people motivating me to keeping writing instead, I might just do that. Let me know what you think.

On the plus side, at least I've managed to contain this chapter into a more manageable length! Yay!

Anyway, thanks to **mwinter1**, **Penny is Wise**, **Akalea** and **TheHomerow** for reviewing the last chapter! I'm glad the cliff hanger got you all excited, lol.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty – When Harry Finds Out About 'The Key' <span>

_The three of them watched patiently as the glow slowly changed colour from white..._

...And gradually turned a bright, emerald green.

"Green?" Dawn exclaimed in confusion, looking towards the healer for more information on what that meant. "I kinda figured it'd turn, like, pink or blue or something."

Madam Pomfrey appeared to be extremely bewildered as well, which Dawn didn't find very encouraging. "You're right, it should have..." she trailed off, deep in thought with a crinkle forming on her brow line.

_Green, _the word echoed in Dawn's head, and then she was suddenly struck with what she thought was an unlikely idea. The colour didn't turn green because of her, did it? She thought back to what she now referred to as the 'Glory' days, and when she'd found out that she was 'The Key', made up of mystical energy. _It was a bright green, swirly shimmer,_ she remembered Glory had said. And now thinking back to the present and that Madam Pomfrey appeared to have no idea what was going on, this couldn't all just be a coincidence.

"In all my years, I've never seen anything like this happen before." At that particular point Madam Pomfrey was literally scratching her head. "If I were back at Hogwarts right now, I would be able to consult some books in order to find out the cause of this."

"So what do we do now then?" Harry spoke up, having been particularly quiet until that point. "And why would it turn green, when that's not usually an option?"

Dawn was debating in her head whether or not to speak up, considering neither knew about her past she was having a hard time on voicing her suspicions. In the meantime, the other two continued to try and unravel the mystery.

Madam Pomfrey shrugged. "I'm not sure, Potter. As Dawn here had already assumed, this test was supposed to illustrate either pink or blue. Even if there were multiple babies, it should have turned varying shades of those two colours, or in the case both sexes being present, segments of both colours... This doesn't make-"

Dawn quietly cleared her throat. "Um, it could be 'coz of me," she finally spoke up, knowing that she had to share her suspicions with them. "Madam Pomfrey, could me and Harry talk for a sec?" She glanced over and noticed that the witch looked concerned. "I guess it's something that I should tell you too, 'coz you've been my healer or whatever, but I really gotta talk to Harry first."

"Of course, dear," the older woman replied with an understanding nod, before promptly leaving the room.

She turned to face Harry, who was still sitting beside her and staring at her in apprehension. She found herself unable to collect her thoughts with him at such close proximity, so she immediately pushed herself up and moved over to stare nervously out the window.

"This has something to do with the same thing we were talking about last night, doesn't it?" he asked, although already sounded like he knew the answer.

She took a deep, calming breath - this was it. She would tell Harry about where she came from and what she was, and he would probably freak out and things would change between them for the worst. She felt an overwhelming dread, deep in the pit of her stomach when she played scenarios of his reaction in her head. Eventually, she managed a slow, unsteady nod in reply to his question.

Meanwhile, when she turned to gaze back at Harry, who still hadn't moved from his seated position on the edge of the bed, she could see that he wasn't without his own anxiety. When she thought about it, she did feel sorry for him, he been wondering about 'The Key' for a little while now and she'd made him wait when he'd asked her. Then again, he hadn't been too pushy with the issue, which did give Dawn some hope that maybe he would be more understanding of it all.

He sighed loudly, as she moved to lean against the window sill. "Listen, Dawn," he began softly. "I can tell that this is difficult for you, but whatever it is, with everything that I've been through - I'm sure I'll understand. "

Despite her nerves, she managed a snort at this. "You say that now, but I'd give you a million bucks if you said you understood after I tell you everything."

"After all that's happened – I'm still here, Dawn!" Harry replied in a slightly raised voice, she could see that he was getting frustrated now. He dropped his head in his hands for a moment, before he gazed back up at her. "Please, you just have to put your trust me," he added in a desperate voice.

She knew he was right, he may have somewhat freaked out when he found out about the baby and the prophecy, but once he got his head around it, he had stood by her. Now she had to stop thinking the worst and just telling him everything. In order to do so, she moved back over towards the bed and climbed up so that she was sitting against the head of the bed, with slightly bent legs stretched out in front of her. Meanwhile, Harry turned from his seated position on the edge of the bed so that he was now facing her.

"Okay, here's the deal," she began, pausing slightly to gather her thoughts. "The prophecy called me 'The Key' 'coz that's what I am." She watched as Harry already frowned in confusion, causing her to let out a large sighed. "I'm not just your average girl, when I was fourteen I found out that I wasn't always human."

"W-what?" Harry stuttered.

_Ugh, and so it begins..._ Dawn thought glumly to herself before continuing. She then launched into the full story about Glory, the Monks of Dagon and how she'd had the memories of a pretty normal life, until she'd found out about being 'The Key' and getting created into human form, and also discovering just what she was capable of. Meanwhile, she was slightly unnerved by the lack of response from Harry the entire time she was telling her story; it was absolutely torturing her, not knowing what was going through his head. Well, the one thing she could see by looking at him was that he was quite shell-shocked by the way his eyes were wide and that he didn't seem capable of words.

When she thought that she'd pretty much covered everything, the room fell into a deafening silence. She sat there patiently for a moment, hoping that he would finally saying something, anything, if she gave him the time, but soon found that she couldn't bear the silence any longer.

"Harry?" she said uncertainly, he was currently staring at the wall beside her. It didn't appear that he'd heard her, so she spoke again. "Harry..."

This seemed to finally snap him out of his dazed state and his eyes suddenly shot up to look at her again. "Bloody hell, uh," he began, he then jumped up off the bed and started pacing the room.

At this stage, Dawn was quite grateful to see some form of response from him, even if it wasn't much to go by.

"I know it's all messed up," she said frantically, her eyes following his every move. "You've gotta understand – I didn't have a choice in this... and it's obviously not the normal way to come into existence, but I'm here now and I'm a person, just like you."

"B-but... you...," was all he managed before bringing his hands up to his face. "I-I... I've got to..." he trailed off mid-sentence with a shake of his head, giving Dawn one last dazed look and then promptly escaping the tension of the room.

And there it was - Dawn knew he wouldn't take the news well, but his completely flabbergasted reaction had her extremely worried. Was Harry finding out about her past enough to put a stop to things between them before they'd even really begun? She already cared about him so much, that the thought of this pushing a wedge between the two of them really terrified her. Of course he needed time to process what she'd just revealed to him, but she couldn't just watch him go without her knowing what he was thinking, she'd drive herself mad.

She quickly jumped up off the bed, vaguely noticing that things were becoming slightly awkward now that she was almost six months along, she rushed into the hallway to hear the sound of his hurried footsteps down the staircase, so she hurried over to the balustrade and leaned over. "Harry!" she called out, however she knew it was in vain when she heard the loud, reverberating sound of front door closing only seconds later.

* * *

><p>Since Bill and Fleur had graciously given up their house to all these people, Buffy put to good use the manners her mother had taught her growing up, helping Fleur cleaning the mess left from breakfast. Buffy watched in amazement as the French witch would dry the plates that she'd washed, and then use her wand to send them floating across the room into the cupboard, wishing that doing household tasks was usually that easy. Periodically, her thoughts would drift back to Dawn, who was still upstairs being looked over by Madam Pomfrey.<p>

The only other person in the room was Ron, who'd obviously slept in and showed up after everyone else had finished eating and relocated to the sitting room. He was now at the kitchen table, purposefully shoving large mouthfuls of porridge into his mouth, alternating with gulps of that pumpkin juice that Buffy had noticed the witches and wizards were so fond of, but to her didn't seem to match up to normal orange juice.

She could suddenly hear some movement from above, the sounds of shuffling feet on the floorboards, before a set of thunderous footsteps rumbled down the staircase and past the kitchen. The three of them all stopped and looked towards the front entrance, as Harry shot past the doorway and continued for the door, without as much as a glance towards them.

"What's going on?" Buffy was the first to speak, the other two just shrugged in equal confusion.

Dawn's voice suddenly called out from the top of the staircase, "Harry!" her voice easily carried downstairs. However, Buffy noticed that this didn't stop the boy wizard, who'd swiftly left the cottage. She assumed he was going outside to the tent in the garden that she'd heard he and his friends were staying in.

She had absolutely no idea what was happening, and once again, even though she was still Dawn's legal guardian as well as her older sister, she felt like an outsider, just an observer of the younger girl's life. That particular feeling had just started out as a niggling thought in the back of her mind, but it had continued to grow and grow, especially over the past week or so. For starters, Dawn had kept her pregnancy from her for months, when instead Buffy felt like she should have been able to turn to her for help and support. Not to mention, the brunette had also neglected to inform her of the baby's growing abilities, that was, until she'd seen it for herself back at Hogwarts. However, even now that she knew about the baby, she still felt like Dawn had kept her at arm's length, while even a fool could see that her sister and Harry were growing closer.

Snapping back into reality, the slayer was contemplating going upstairs to see what'd happened, although she soon realised that this wasn't necessary, when Dawn appeared in the doorway of the kitchen - she wasn't crying but she looked extremely upset. Buffy quickly put down the plate she was currently washing to approach her, however Dawn silently walked across the kitchen and flopped down in the nearest chair and dropped her head against the table.

"Ev'ryfing oo'ay, 'awn?" Ron asked from the other side of the table, with a large mouthful of porridge.

"Yeah... you okay, Dawnie?" Buffy found herself echoing in concern, startling herself by knowing exactly what the redhead was trying to say. _Maybe now's the time to get Dawn to open up,_ she briefly thought to herself. "Pomfrey didn't find something wrong with the baby, did she?" she asked as the sudden alarming thought hit her.

Dawn finally picked her head up from the table, although was still avoiding making eye contact with any of them. She let out a large sigh and stared down at floor. Buffy feared the worse when she didn't answer straight away.

"_Dawnie_?" she asked, really worried now.

"Oh, oops," she finally said, as if only just hearing the question, and then quickly shook her heard. "Nope, it's all good... well almost." She paused; glancing over at both Fleur and Ron for a moment and Buffy could see that she was debating on what she was going to say next.

"What was Harry so upset about, when he came soaring past just now?" Ron piped up, thankfully not in the middle of eating this time around.

Dawn shrugged off whatever she was debating and relaxed back into the chair she was sitting on. "Long story short, Madam Pomfrey was doing the test to see what sex the baby was and-"

"Ooh," Fleur cut in, an excitement in her tone. "What colour did ze spell go?"

"Green," Dawn replied in a low tone.

Buffy looked between the two women in confusion. "Green? What's that mean?"

She was slightly panicked when she saw unease and bafflement appear on the witch's features as she took in Dawn's reply. Buffy soon figured that it wasn't something that was supposed to happen, that there was something wrong.

"I 'ave never heard of ze spell turning green - I thought zat it was supposed to go pink or blue," Fleur said.

Dawn nodded. "That's what Pomfrey said, and then I thought about it..." she paused and turned her attention towards Buffy. "Funny it should turn green of all colours, hey Buffy?"

It only took a second for her to get Dawn's insinuation, and her eyes widened in surprise. "So, what, the spell wouldn't work 'coz of..." Buffy trailed off, while Dawn gave a confirming nod.

Meanwhile, Fleur and Ron both looked quite confused by the whole thing, having no idea what the two sisters were referring to, however Dawn continued on.

"Anyway," she said taking a deep breath. "The spell wouldn't work 'coz of me, and Harry was there, so I finally had to tell Harry about me being 'The Key' and all."

Buffy pushed back the annoyance that Madam Pomfrey had let Harry upstairs earlier, while denying her presence when she was Dawn's guardian and had just as much right to be there. But suddenly, all the drama from only moments before made sense to Buffy. Of course Harry wouldn't take well to finding out about Dawn; she'd been there too, she remembered how she'd felt when she'd discovered the truth about her sister. Although, now Dawn was just as real to her as anyone else she knew, if not more so. The fear that perhaps the wizard might not be as quick to accept it did enter her mind; however for Dawn's sake she tried to hide it.

"He'll get over it, Dawn," she reassured. "Give him some manly, brooding time."

However, Dawn still looked quite troubled; in fact Buffy noticed that the girl was trying to conceal just how upset she was by it all. It was really important to her about what Harry thought, but why? Did Dawn have feelings for him? She certainly wasn't sharing anything with her older sister these days, so Buffy had no way of knowing for sure. Maybe if Dawn wasn't going to open up to her she could find out more from the other side of the story.

"Hey, since I've been in his shoes, I can talk to him or something," she trailed off casually, waiting for Dawn's reaction.

"_No_," Dawn replied a little too quickly with a firm shake of her head, making Buffy feel as if the strong objection was just another ploy for Dawn to keep her at arm's length. "Uh, I don't think he'd be much with the talking right now," she added in embarrassment at her small outburst.

"I'm so bloody confused," Ron added, making both girls only just realise that both he and Fleur were still there.

Buffy shrugged uselessly at him, obviously Dawn didn't mind too much about talking about her being 'The Key' around these virtual strangers, however she personally still thought it wasn't something they should be running around shouting off the rooftops for safety reasons. Then again, Dawn almost couldn't be in any more danger than she currently was with Voldemort after her, Harry and the baby.

In the meantime, Madam Pomfrey entered the kitchen, her attention solely on Dawn. She didn't have to say anything to the brunette; Dawn noticed her sudden presence and pushed up out of her chair to face the much older woman.

She sighed. "Time for round two." Dawn had told Harry, but now she was also telling the Hogwarts nurse? The confusion must have been evident on Buffy's face, because Dawn looked at her and added, "I kinda figured she needed to know all that stuff, for the baby's sake or whatever."

_That makes sense_, Buffy agreed and simply nodded, and then waited until the pair had both retreated back upstairs to talk. Once they were out of sight, she smiled at a baffled Ron and Fleur and quickly ducked out of the room, knowing exactly where she was going. Even though Dawn was adamant that Harry be left alone, it didn't take her long to decide that she was still going to talk to him. Obviously for the reason she'd wanted to a moment ago, but she also didn't want him completely freaking out and perhaps even going back on the promises he'd made to stand by her sister through everything. Anyway, even if that what he wanted to do right now - she was the slayer, and she would see to it that he wasn't going anywhere. She was always looking out for her younger sister.

She stepped out onto the front path, giving a brief, involuntary shiver at the freezing cold temperature outside, which wasn't surprising being the middle of winter, but she was born and raised in Californian weather and always caught unprepared for the cold. She easily spotted the tent pitched up on the side of the house, and as she approached it, she wondered how the hell the three teens were managing to fit comfortably into that one tiny tent. Of course, as soon as she slowly entered through the front flaps, she kicked herself for not even considering the magical possibilities earlier.

"Holy crap! Oh my god - that's so cool!" she couldn't stop herself from exclaiming, as she gazed around at the spacious interior.

This drew the attention of the current lone occupant of the tent, and she soon spotted Harry's head popping up from one of the bunk beds over on the right-hand side of the tent. He seemed surprised to see her, pushing himself up into a seated position.

"Hey there," she greeted, nodding towards the table and chairs in the middle of the tent. "Can I...?"

Harry quickly nodded. "Yes, come in," he replied, she moved across to settle herself in one of the chairs opposite him. "Uh... you've obviously spoken to Dawn."

"Yep, and I saw your Speedy Gonzales gig just before," she said, looking straight at him, trying to get a reaction and she patiently waited to see if he took the bait.

When she noticed his relatively unchanged expression, although she thought she noticed perhaps the tiniest frown, she realised that he actually didn't have any clue about what she was talking about. It was in her nature to try and use humour, even in the most awkward situations; however she found her humour was quite often lost on these witches and wizards. They fell into silence for a moment and Buffy realised that she didn't know what she was going to say to the teenage wizard.

"So, you obviously having a major freak out about the whole 'Key' thing... been there," she began, her eyes drifting around the tent with interest, taking in everything. "But hey, I reckon it was worse back then."

Harry leaned forward, so that his arms were resting on his legs and hands were clasped together, as if silently urging her to continue. She thought that the fact that he didn't immediately argue this meant that perhaps he was taking it all pretty well.

She made eye contact with him. "Here I was with all these memories of my little sister, even from when I was six, and then I found out that most of them weren't even real, just created by those monks... You kinda feel a bit violated – it was kinda like being mind-raped."

Harry's eyes widened slightly in surprise and then he nodded. "I can sort of understand that," he said, to which she frowned in confusion. "Well, considering what happened with the prophecy back in London, Dawn and I didn't really have a choice in that."

Buffy felt a pang of sadness, she'd already felt for her sister, but now she also felt it for the boy sitting in front of her. His comment made her recall the conversation she'd had with Dawn just after she'd found out about the baby. _Ugh, I hate that I had no choice in it!_ Dawn's words echoed in her head. The more she thought about it, the more she realised how completely sick and twisted it was - the Powers That Be or whatever it was, practically forcing two seventeen-year-olds in something that they weren't ready for, just so that they could conceive a child together.

"Is she your sister?" Harry asked quietly, breaking Buffy from her disgruntled thoughts.

"_Yes!_ Of course she is!" Buffy responded hastily at that question, like she'd been hit with the biggest insult she could possibly get. "We still share blood, the monks made sure of that. But even if they hadn't, she was still gonna be my sister no matter what... none of that stuff matters."

He sighed and turned to rest his back against one of the bunk bed posts, whilst propping one of his legs up onto the bed. He didn't say anything in reply and she just watched as he sat there deep in thought. She dismissed her earlier thought that he might try and skip out on the whole situation, not knowing him very well yet, she probably hadn't given him enough credit.

"Did Dawn even talk about when she found out?" she asked.

He quickly shook his head. "No... I-I actually hadn't thought of any of that," he admitted, looking slightly shameful.

"Don't tell Dawn I told you this..." She knew that Dawn would be angry if she found out that she was mentioning something quite personal, in the meantime, Harry nodded genuinely. "I'm sure you can figure out that she didn't take it well. I guess we can't begin to imagine what it felt like for her, but I know it was too hard for a fourteen-year-old to deal with," she suddenly lowered her voice. "She cut herself..."

When she said this, Harry's head snapped around to look at her. "What?" he asked even though he wasn't expecting an answer because he'd heard her clearly. He then dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

As Buffy watched his significant reaction, she was once again struck by the idea she'd had in the kitchen - that there were feelings between the two teens, and not just because they felt like they should just because they were having a baby together. Feeling like she didn't want to say anything about that yet, and now she was reassured that Harry would still be there for her sister, she decided to leave him to gather his thoughts again.

"Anyway," she said drawing out the word. "I'll leave you to it... think about it, _carefully_," she warned him before leaving the tent.

* * *

><p>Harry certainly did take Buffy's parting advice, in fact that was all he could seem to do – think about it. Everything was swirling around in his head like a whirlpool, leaving him feeling so dazed and confused. The news about 'The Key' had really come out of left field, while he knew that it had to be something important from Dawn's reaction the night before, the actual story was beyond anything he could have imagined. Before three years ago, Dawn didn't really exist, but now here she was a living and breathing, not to mention, pregnant, seventeen-year-old girl. Even with all the magic he'd seen, it almost seemed impossible.<p>

He then spent some time lying in his bunk, contemplating what Buffy had said to him. _She cut herself. _The words echoed through his head. He felt slightly sickened by the idea that Dawn had done something like that to herself. Furthermore, he was actually surprised how Dawn had managed to bounce back from something like that and become the friendly, warm and high-spirited person she was today. There were certainly times in his life that he thought that he just might break, with being raised by the Dursley's, finding out about his parents' murders, watching people close to him die, finding out about the prophecy... but they seemed to pale in comparison to the idea of finding out that most of your life wasn't real and that you weren't actually born into the world like everyone else.

He'd run out of the cottage earlier because he needed time to process everything, although who knows how long that would actually take. But now, one of the biggest concerns at the current time was: how would he feel, or what would he say, when he saw Dawn next? He still thought that he really cared about her, and he'd told her as much only a day ago, but would this piece of vital information change everything? He tried to tell himself that he would be okay with it all, but there was a nagging voice of doubt there too.

It was maybe half an hour to an hour later, he wasn't quite sure how much time had passed, that he would get his answer. He'd just pushed himself up off the bunk, debating on whether or not to go back inside, when he looked up to see Dawn standing at the tent entrance looking apprehensive. In fact, as he gazed over at her, he noticed that she looked like a nervous wreck; she was biting her lip so hard that he thought she might bite right through it.

"Hey," she said softly, not moving from her spot. "Uh, I told Pomfrey too," she began hesitantly, looking extremely uncomfortable. "She was pretty confused... So, uh, how are you?"

When he looked at her, he still saw her as Dawn, as person, for the most part. Yes, the recent developments were definitely in the forefront of his mind, but he still couldn't help but see what he'd thought of her already. Maybe if he didn't already have such strong feelings for her before finding out about her being 'The Key', he wouldn't have been as accepting of it. He was starting to see the wisdom in her holding off telling him for a little while, because maybe they wouldn't have been as close as they were now because of it, and he hated the idea that he could have lost her through something like that.

She took a step backwards; the movement was enough to break Harry from his inner monologue. She was clearly distressed by his lack of response, and seemed to be backing out of the tent. "I-It's all good; I figured it'd be too much. Hey, who wants a freak?"

_Freak?_ Both a panic and an anger surged through him, it was enough to make him realise that he had to do something to stop her from leaving and show her that he was already getting past the whole 'Key' thing. He liked to think that he would probably wake up tomorrow and it all wouldn't matter. And he certainly wasn't going to let her think that she was some kind of freak. So he rushed forward and gently, but hurriedly caught her by the arm.

"Well, I sure hope that at least you'd want me," he replied unflinchingly, obviously catching her off-guard because she turned and looked at him with large, surprised eyes.

Without much more thought or any hesitation, he leaned down and pulled her into a passionate kiss. It only took a second or two before he felt her responding back with equal fervour, and as their bodies pushed tightly together, Harry noticed that he could feel the growing stomach against him, which caused a fluttering in his stomach. The kiss deepened, he realised that they hadn't even gone this far since that night back in London. Vaguely registering that they couldn't stand there snogging in the entrance of the tent forever, but not being ready for the moment to end yet, he continued the embrace whilst pulling her further into the tent.

The next thing he knew, he was actually so caught up in it all that he didn't even remember how they ended up there, they were on his bunk. Dawn was on the bunk below him, their legs in a tangle at the bottom end of the bed, meanwhile, he used his arms to try and hold himself up so that he wouldn't put all of his body weight on her, scared that if he did he would hurt the baby somehow. Although his arms were busy holding himself up, this didn't stop Dawn from running her hands up under his shirt as they continued to kiss.

He suddenly felt her pull away, feeling a strong surge of disappointment and alarm, and then he realised why she'd stopped so abruptly. He turned his head to see Hermione standing awkwardly at the tent entrance. Both Harry and Dawn turned red from the humiliation of being caught in an intense embrace, Harry especially embarrassed for it to be one of his best friends standing there.

"Dawn, Harry! I'm so sorry!" Hermione was apologetic, although he noticed that she also looked rather amused. "I came to read a book and didn't even think..." She quickly ran over and grabbed a book that Harry had seen lying on the table earlier and went to leave again. "Please don't let me interrupt your _moment_," she added with a smile before leaving, and Harry instantly recognised the hidden, light-hearted taunt that was directed at him that Dawn wouldn't have known about.

When she was gone, he turned over to lie beside Dawn, although it was quite cosy trying to accommodate the both of them on such a small bunk. Dawn shuffled herself slightly so that she was half-lying on him, and they were both still slightly out-of-breath from the previous few moments. They both stared silently at the bottom of the bunk above them for several moments before she finally broke the silence.

"Yeah... I don't think that counts as 'taking it slow'," she said quietly.

He couldn't help smiling at this despite the all the drama from only moments earlier, before moving to place a hand on her stomach, which was the first time he'd actually had the courage to do it of his own accord. He was surprised at just how firm the rounded stomach felt under his touch.

"So, what about the whole 'Key' deal?" she asked uncertainly.

"I thought I just gave you my response..." he trailed off, thinking that he'd already made himself pretty clear just then, but then maybe she needed to hear it from him instead, which was a little more difficult for him. He was always felt more comfortable expressing thoughts and feelings through actions rather than words, probably because his voice had been so suppressed by the Dursley's for so long.

She turned her head slightly and looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "I guess that mean little voice in my head keeps telling me that something's gotta go wrong, that you can't be this perfect."

"P-perfect?" he spluttered out, half-perplexed, half-embarrassed by her comment. In his mind, he couldn't be any further from perfect.

"Well, yeah," she replied, resting her head back down. "After the whole prophecy and London thing, then finding out I was pregnant and now that I was created from some mystical energy, I kinda can't believe that you haven't just packed up and run for the hills."

Harry let out a snort. "I could say the same of you, Dawn," he pointed out, also thinking back to his talk with Buffy and all the things Dawn had been through. He wanted to put to rest the current discussion because he didn't think he deserved her admiration, so he quickly changed the topic. "So, uh, the baby has obviously got quite a bit of power from you, what did Madam Pomfrey have to say?"

He felt Dawn shrug. "She was so confused - I don't think she had any idea, especially about what other magic tricks, no pun intended, the baby might have up its sleeve. I guess we'll have to wait see which one of us is gonna have a mini-me running around in a couple of months."


	21. When the Baby Strikes Again

Disclaimer:  None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note:  Another long chapter, I guess I owe you all this one after my absence! I do have a legitimate excuse though, I have been having many neck and back problems lately and considering I spend a lot of time at a computer for work, it was just too much to be sitting at one at home all the time, so I've done this chapter little by little. It's slowly getting better!

Also, I was in a bit of a hurry to post this one, because I'm away for a few days (again, I know! It's a hard life, lol) and leave in exactly half an hour, so I didn't have enough time to completely proof-read the whole thing. I gave it a good scan though, but any errors I will fix when I get back.

Anyway, thanks again to those who reviewed the last chapter: **mwinter1**, **Penny is Wise**, **Akalea, AriLivesnotDylan** and **SaltoftheWorld**! Hope you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-One – When the Baby Strikes Again<span>

There were mixed-feelings for Ginny after she'd had her talk with Harry in the Hospital Wing. She did feel a slight weight off her shoulders, being able to apologise for her awful mistake in the Great Hall. On the other hand, she felt the painful sting of rejection. _I don't think I did. _The words replayed through her head – what Harry had told her when she'd asked him if he ever felt the same about her as what she did for him. She was just being stupid thinking that there was any hope left for them, he and Dawn, were having a baby together for Merlin's sake! And somewhere in the back of her mind, she hoped that her and Dawn could eventually be friends again. But so suddenly both of them were gone, and without so much as a goodbye. But they'd had no choice; they were off to somewhere safe... because of her, her and her moment of stupidity.

In amongst all the chaos, she'd found out that she was not only a witch, but a slayer too. Therefore, she took all her sorrow and her anger and threw herself into her training with fellow-slayer Faith, her somewhat-sidekick, Xander, and the watcher, Rupert Giles. Even though Faith could be quite direct and slightly aggressive, Ginny was relieved that the brunette was the slayer to guide her through her training; she didn't think Buffy would have taken so well to training her, thinking back to the blonde's reaction to her back in the Hospital Wing when she was talking to Harry.

It had only been just less than a week since the Golden Trio, Dawn and the others had left Hogwarts, but she'd already had several training sessions to learn how to harness her slayer abilities. She knew she needed it considering what she'd been accidentally doing around the school for the past few months, including breaking a toilet cubicle door and the shelf in Slughorn's storage cupboard. With a few sessions under her belt, she still felt a little out of control of her own body - it wasn't as if she was ever a clumsy, awkward person, but now her reflexes were so sharp that it kept catching her by surprise, in turn causing a few accidents. Xander, who she hadn't properly talked to before a few days ago but appeared to be nice, had been caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time and now sported a black eye on his good eye, which sort of matched his eye patch on the other side. She was absolutely mortified when it'd happened and couldn't apologise enough. At the time, Giles had rushed in to Xander's aid, while Faith looked quite amused by the whole situation.

They had just finished Ginny's fourth training session, the Hogwarts classes had started back up after the Christmas/New Year break, so they had decided to conduct them in the evenings, sometime after dinnertime. She'd found by the end of the current session, on a particularly cold January night, that she felt like she could crawl up into her bed and sleep for several days, her body was still adjusting to the extra workload on top of her normal school work.

"I must say, you're doing well, Ginny," Giles encouraged with smile, Ginny found him to be a quiet, but friendly man, and she was thankful that he didn't appear to have any hard feelings towards her from the Great Hall incident.

"Thanks," she replied, wiping her sweat away with the towel he'd just handed her. "Although, do you think I'd be able to incorporate both the slayer abilities and the magic?"

"In time, yes." He took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. "I believe it will put you at quite an advantage from both the slayer and the witchcraft perspectives. However, since you're magical abilities are far more advanced than your slayer abilities, it'd be best to really focus on the slayer training before we decide to combine them. I'll probably also require someone else's expertise when that time comes."

Xander approached them and patted Ginny on the shoulder. "Good job, Gin!" he exclaimed and then paused uncertainly. "I can call you Gin, right?"

She nodded with a small smile. "Of course, loads of people call me that."

Suddenly Faith called out from across the room, which McGonagall had kindly allocated them to use as a training room, where she was packing up the training equipment for the night. "Hey, Panda-boy! Give me a hand!"

Ginny couldn't properly stifle a giggle at the expression on Xander's face, while appreciating Faith's humour – he really did look like a panda with both the black-eye and the eye patch. He then threw Faith a look of mock-offense and proceeded to assist the slayer. Ginny then took this as an opportunity to ask Giles something that had almost constantly been on her mind all week, but hadn't really felt comfortable with asking until now.

"I was actually wondering... have you heard from anyone in the Order, do you know how everyone else is going? Uh, is Dawn alright?"

Giles nodded, sending a wave of relief rushing through her. "As a matter of fact, Remus was here on New Year's Day to take Madam Pomfrey to check on Dawn-"

"She woke up? She's okay?" Ginny inquired with concern, especially since she felt so responsible for what had happened.

"Yes, I spoke to Poppy when she got back; everything appears fine with Dawn and the baby." Even though she knew that he was telling her the truth, Ginny couldn't help but notice a slight hesitation in the Watcher's voice and immediately knew that there was something more to it all, however she didn't say anything about it. "Remus also said that everyone had settled well in their safe location, your brother Ron included."

"He didn't say where that was, did he?" she found herself asking, although knowing full-well that Lupin knew what he was doing and probably wouldn't have told anyone for security measures.

"No, he's kept very tight-lipped on that," Giles responded with a shake of his head. "Which means that they are safe."

She nodded and dropped her gaze down to the floor, while Giles continued to chatter on about her training and what she could work on for the next session. She felt a sudden hand on her shoulder and turned to see Xander standing behind her again.

"Geez, G-man," he complained in a teasing tone. "First you torture her with all those roundhouses, and now with the super-boring watcher talk." This made Ginny laugh a little internally, however she didn't want to put another foot wrong by affronting someone.

She watched Giles roll his eyes at the younger man, accustomed to his antics. "Xander, please don't even start on that horrible nickname around Ginny, I don't want it catching on any further than it already has."

Now Ginny couldn't help but smile. "I don't think that will be a problem," she replied, not being able to picture herself being that forward with someone she barely knew. _If it were Fred and George here, that'd be a whole different story_, she briefly thought.

The next thing she knew, she was being pulled out of the room and heard Xander's voice call out, "Anyway, see ya later, G-man."

She decided then and there that she would definitely have to introduce him to her brothers sometime, this was assuming that they hadn't had a chance to meet at the gathering between the Order and Buffy's group after the whole Great Hall incident.

"Once you've had a bit more of the whole Giles-Watcher-experience, you'll be thanking me for that," he pointed out in amusement once they stood out in the corridor. He then motioned for her to begin down the corridor with him. "I'll walk you up; give us a chance to get to know each other better."

As they headed through the darkened corridors towards the Gryffindor Tower, Ginny was actually starting to feel much more comfortable. She attributed this to the man walking beside her, who emanated such a friendly, laid-back persona. She could also appreciate a good sense of humour when she came across one, having Fred and George as brothers. The only thing she was apprehensive about was that she found it difficult to tell in between the jokes whether or not Xander held any blame towards her for her role in putting Dawn in danger. She knew that both he and Dawn were pretty close from the stories that Dawn had told her. While Buffy's aversion towards her was quite obvious, she wasn't sure if he was much better at concealing his feelings or thoughts.

"So..." Xander trailed off in an attempt for a conversation starter. "Seven brothers, hey? Whoa, that must be pretty crazy!"

She quickly nodded. "But it seems normal to me, having grown up with it and it being all I've ever known." She glanced over at him and he was looking at her, genuinely interested, so she continued on. "The main thing that can get on my nerves sometimes though, is that they can be a little too overprotective sometimes, but they've gotten much better as I've gotten older... Well, except for Ron, that is, but he's just a bit of a git, really."

Xander appeared to be trying to recall which brother she was talking about; she didn't blame him if he got confused. "He's the one that's friends with Harry, right?" he asked, and she felt a slight sting at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, but managed to nod. "Now you've got all that slayer-strength and all, you'd think that'd get him off your case."

She wished. "You would think that, but that's just Ron, unfortunately," she replied as they ascended a staircase.

"So what's the deal with him and that other friend of Harry's – the brunette?" This caught Ginny by surprise; she threw him a look to get him to elaborate. "I know enough to know when there's something more going on between friends," he continued with a casual shrug, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Now Ginny was able to laugh out loud. "The whole world can see it, but my brother is too daft to see it himself."

Xander simply shrugged. "What can I say? Buffy and Faith have their slayer powers, Giles the power of brains and Willow with the magic... my super-power is observation."

Ginny gave a small smile and continued to lead the way; she had about a five-and-a-half year advantage with getting to know the ins and outs of the castle, although sometimes even she still had her occasional moments where she would get lost.

"So, what about you, Gin? I'm sure one of the guys here has caught your eye... it's a big school."

Ginny was caught completely off-guard by his forwardness and noticed that there was no hint of embarrassment or hesitation in the man's tone; he was just casually asking this as if it were any other question, such as "what's your favourite food" or "how are you today". However, this wasn't just any other question to Ginny. Surely he knew now about her broken heart, especially when she'd practically screamed it for the whole of Hogwarts to hear.

"Well," she began, firstly pushing Harry out of her mind and trying to ponder the question properly. When she did this, she came to the sudden realisation that she'd been too focused on her past relationship, that she'd probably been closing herself off to that sort of thing. She told herself that she had to move on and open herself up to the possibility; otherwise she could go on for a long time being sad and alone. "Not at the moment, actually," she replied finally.

When she saw Xander's returning smile, she was starting to believe that, yes, he did know about the whole Harry saga, and that he'd asked that question on purpose. Well, it certainly had gotten her thinking about how close-minded she'd been to the possibility of a new relationship. _That's another super-power,_ she noted to herself. Whilst Xander didn't have what the rest of his group had, she could see that he was there for them for support, the glue binding the group together.

"How about you?" she tore herself from her thoughts to politely return the gesture.

She noticed a sudden sadness wash over him. "There was someone," he began; Ginny noticed this was the softest and most serious she had seen/heard him since they'd been properly introduced. "Uh, she died," he stated bluntly, he then cleared his throat and threw her a smile. "But it's all good."

She felt her breath catch in her throat; she couldn't feel more horrible for stirring up his anguish. "Oh no, that's... I'm so sorry. I- I shouldn't have asked," she managed just as they arrived at the Fat Lady.

He waved a dismissing hand at her. "It's okay; you didn't know any of that."

What made her feel worse was that she started to recall Dawn mentioning something about all that when she'd told her about what had happened when Sunnydale collapsed and how all the potential slayers, like herself, had been activated. She had mentioned them losing a couple of people that day. Ginny felt as if she was never going to win any friends over when it came to Dawn, Buffy and her group, she was always getting it completely wrong. Her discomfit and horror must have been clearly written on her face, because Xander suddenly spoke up again.

"Hey, I can tell you're stressing around the Gang about the whole Dawn thing-"

"Of course," she cut in. "You've all been forced to work with me after all of that, I'm sure you all dislike me for that."

To her surprise, he shook his head firmly. "It was just a mistake; okay a pretty big mistake, but we all do it. None of us care... except for Buffy, but she's like that with holding grudges and everything. Just ignore it and she'll get over it."

Dawn had spoken fondly of her little family, including Xander, to her, and now she was beginning to see why. Ginny felt calmed by the whole conversation with Xander, with a renewed sense of motivation to throw herself into her training, and perhaps back into life. However, she couldn't stifle a yawn that had been threatening to escape since the end of the training session. Xander immediately took note of this.

"I'm not gonna pull a Giles on you too, you should go get some sleep," he said, nodding towards the Portrait Hole.

She quietly thanked him, wished him 'goodnight', and didn't hesitate in entering the Common Room, wondering if many of her housemates would still be up, taking into account that they had classes in the morning and that it was nearing midnight. She wasn't surprised to see an almost-empty room. There were a couple of fifth-years in one corner who were looking extremely stressed, most likely in a last-minute attempt to finish an essay, and then there was Neville sitting in an armchair by the fire, reading a book called '_Plants and Their Healing Properties_'. He lowered his book and looked up as she made her way across the room and flopped into the chair next to him.

"Wow, that was another late session," Neville said, glancing down at his watch.

He was one of only a few within the school to be aware of her slayer status, the Headmistress obviously knew, and Ginny had decided to share the news with those she considered close friends, which also included Luna Lovegood, knowing she could trust them. Before her training had begun, she'd sat down with Giles, Faith and Xander, as well as her parents and a few of the Order members, to discuss the situation and it was almost unanimous that it was best that her being a slayer was kept quiet; it could be an extremely useful secret weapon in the fight against Voldemort. Her father had also pointed out that they didn't want the ministry getting wind of this, especially knowing that there were spies within.

"How come you are still up then?" she inquired with a frown.

"Oh." He closed his book and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Uh, this book was just too fascinating and I, uh, just got too caught up in it and lost track of time... So, how do you think you're going to be able to keep up with training and your school studies at the same time?" He seemed somewhat concerned.

She found herself shrugging. It did seem like a big feat, especially considering how tired she felt at the present moment and she was barely a week into her slayer training.

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "And it's hard to say that one can take precedence over the other, well because they're both pretty important." She sighed.

"I'm sure it'll get easier," he responded quietly.

She couldn't suppress the rather loud yawn that had abruptly sprung up on her, covering her mouth as she did so. She knew she couldn't delay bed any longer and looked over at Neville with a smile.

"Night, Neville," she simply said, immediately retreating to the comfort of her bed, although not noticing the lingering stare he gave her as she left the Common Room.

* * *

><p>For the past week, Harry had woken up the same every morning, he'd opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of the brunette beside him, and he always had to convince himself that he wasn't still sleeping. Dawn was currently lying on her back, her head slightly turned in his direction and he could clearly see that she was still in a deep slumber. The first night or two sleeping in each other's company had been simply out of the need for a decent sleep due to whatever connection or baby-related thing made them do so, but now he couldn't imagine sleeping alone again.<p>

They already had a system each night, trying the best to be discreet when they retired to bed each night – Dawn would of course just go up to her room, while Harry would usually find the right opportunity to sneak up there. Some of the nights they had stayed awake talking for a long while, others they would be asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, and sometimes they would have a pretty decent snogging session, which always left him feeling like he was soaring way above the clouds. Since the incident in the tent, they had actually adhered to their idea of 'taking it slow'. When Harry thought back to Hermione's slightly embarrassing interruption, he came to the realisation that if the witch hadn't have done so, then perhaps they wouldn't have stopped. However, he knew that this was a completely different situation to London, there wasn't a prophecy controlling their actions now, but somehow he still lost his head around Dawn. He didn't know if it was the same for her, they hadn't really discussed it.

Meanwhile, Hermione hadn't mentioned the whole incident afterwards but while she didn't say anything in words, even when he left each night or returned in the morning, the looks she gave him said enough. He could tell that she was slightly apprehensive about the whole situation. Ron, on the other hand, remained pretty oblivious to it all. He wasn't exactly the most observant individual, especially when it was nearing bedtime or time to wake in the morning. By the time Harry had waited until he thought the household was asleep, Ron was usually fast asleep by that point, and in case anyone were to look at Harry's bed, he would cast a fake lump under the covers to make it look occupied. He didn't particularly care if Ron found out about his escapades, he was his best mate after all, he certainly didn't want to give Buffy a reason to cause a scene or hurt him.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the stirring of Dawn beside him, he shifted slightly and turned gaze at her. Her eyes were still closed and she appeared to be asleep, but she was faintly twitching, her head moving fractionally from side-to-side, while her face was slightly scrunched up. She was dreaming.

He watched her for a while, feeling somewhat creepy just quietly studying her while she slept. Eventually, she exhaled loudly, startling Harry in the process, and her eyes fluttered open. Her first action was to stretch her arms up above her and yawn. She suddenly glanced over, as if only just remembering him then, and noticed that he was awake and watching her with interest.

The next thing he knew, he had been hit in the face with a pillow. "That's kinda creepy, Harry," he heard her amused voice.

He pushed the pillow off him and looked over at her with slightly pink cheeks. "Looked like you were having a bad dream," he explained.

She shrugged. "No so much with the bad, but definitely a lot of weird." He threw her an intrigued look. "I was in some really dark place, there was something shiny ahead but I was frozen like a statue and couldn't go check it out." She went to roll onto her side, one hand clutching her slightly swollen abdomen, the other hand immediately reached for her lower back. "Ugh, I totally miss sleeping on my stomach!"

"Is everything alright?" he was quick to ask.

Dawn dismissed his concern with a nod. "Peachy... just another joy of pregnancy – it's like someone tried to throw as many forms of torture into one package. First with the vomiting, then the weight gain, the awkward sleeping and then they top it all off with the labour!" She paused deep in thought, visibly paling. "Oh shit," she exclaimed, catching him off-guard. "Tell me you magical-folk can just zap it out, right?"

He crinkled his brow in confusion, taking a moment to realise what she meant. "Uh, I don't think so," he replied uncertainly, once again not exactly knowing that much about babies, but he was pretty sure that they delivered babies basically the same in the Wizarding World.

Dawn fell back onto her back and pulled the covers up over her face in horror. "Kill me now!" Harry heard her muffled voice; a second later she resurfaced, staring sullenly up at the roof.

"You haven't thought of any of that before now?" he inquired, still studying her with interest.

She turned and frowned at him. "Hey, I'm sure you haven't either!" she replied defensively.

"Well, no." She was right; he had spent so much time just adjusting to the whole idea of them, the prophecy and her pregnancy that he hadn't really spent much time thinking further ahead. Just the mention of the birth had him even more terrified than he was of Voldemort.

Suddenly Dawn had given him a playful shove. "See! It's the kinda thing that you just don't wanna imagine..." She let out a deep breath. "It's bullshit, going through all of this to finish off old Moldy-face. I mean, it looked like you guys were doing a pretty good job without having to put me through what's supposed to be one of the most painful experiences!" She crossed her arms in a childish huff. "The universe owes me – big time!"

This stirred up multiple emotions in Harry, he could completely understand where she was coming from, but he couldn't help but feel a sting at her words. For one thing, if it wasn't for the prophecy, they probably wouldn't have even met and experienced the strong connection that was now between them. For him, he already knew that he wouldn't change a thing if it meant losing all of that. Perhaps she didn't feel the same way. Then again, there were many more repercussions for her with the whole situation.

His abrupt silence didn't go unnoticed by the brunette beside him. She turned and threw him an intent look. "What'd I say?"

"Well," he began, rolling onto his side to face her. "I was just thinking how I'm inclined to believe that the universe has compensated us already."

"Huh? I don't speak Giles-talk." She frowned.

He couldn't stop the annoyance from melting away at her charming mannerisms, so instead of replying with words, he decided to let an action speak for itself and see if she still felt the same way from there. He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss, and when he pulled back, he was relieved to see the frown had disappeared from her face.

"Says you who doesn't have to push a watermelon-sized thing outta you!" she shot back jestingly, quickly reaching over and pulling him in again before he had a chance to show his horror.

* * *

><p>"Morning everyone!" Dawn greeted as everyone all gathered in the kitchen for breakfast, minus Bill, who was off early for work that morning. She threw a brief, but what she hoped was subtle, smile at Harry, who had begun to tuck into his breakfast.<p>

"Geez, you're all with the good mood this morning, Dawnie," Willow observed from across the table.

She played it cool and simply shrugged dismissingly at this, right then Buffy approached the table and put a glass of juice down in front of her, as if to encourage her to get some sustenance into her body. _Always with the mothering, _Dawn briefly thought as Buffy then took her own seat at the table. The slayer's mood was quite the opposite of her sister's.

"I bet it's 'coz she has that bed all to herself across the hall," Buffy chimed in, almost sulking.

Dawn heard Harry cough awkwardly, redirecting her eyes to see him staring intently at his toast, not daring to look up, while Hermione had a ghost of a knowing smile beside him and Ron next to her seemed to have no clue so Dawn assumed that neither of his friends had said anything to him.

"I am very sorry zat we don't 'ave more room 'ere, Buffy," Fleur was fast to apologise, as she poured herself a coffee.

Buffy quickly waved this away. "No, don't sweat it," she said. "It's not a big deal having to share; it's just Willow gets all squirmy and violent in her sleep. You woulda thought that'd be my thing, but nope, Will has a nasty kick on her."

"Sorry," Willow added sheepishly.

Ron suddenly looked up from his food. "You could always get one of us to stun her before you go to sleep."

Hermione feigned horror and reached over to slap him on the arm, Dawn was pretty sure that everyone knew he wasn't serious, including Hermione, and couldn't help but notice the flirtatious edge to this interaction. She managed to catch Harry's eye and threw him a look with raised eyebrows. He returned the look with one that said "I'll tell you later". In the meantime, there were amused chuckles from around the table, although Dawn couldn't help but notice that Buffy seemed to actually consider the redhead's offer for a moment. She then turned to her sister.

"Anyway, since you've had that room to yourself for over a week, I think I'll share with you for a while," Buffy said before she took a bite of her toast.

Harry momentarily choked on his pumpkin juice, while Dawn tried to stop a look of horror from appearing, however without success.

"W-what?" she stuttered. "You... you can't!"

There were many confused expressions, nearly everyone seeming lost on what was happening, except for Harry and Hermione. Buffy was among the baffled, glancing around the table, taking in the scene around her.

"You alright, Harry?" she asked, to which he nodded and gave a slightly strained "fine". The blonde slayer then turned back to Dawn. "Why can't I share rooms with you?"

Dawn didn't know where to begin, for starters that would mean an end to her and Harry's clandestine sleeping arrangements, which in turn would also probably mean an end to sleep itself. That wasn't an option, as far as she was concerned. She needed to make sure she looked after herself and got sufficient sleep, if not it could lead to complications with the baby. The baby... she suddenly realised that could be her excuse.

"Uh, I am kinda pregnant, Buffy... like I wanna share a bed," she managed stupidly. _Smooth one, Dawn,_ a sarcastic voice chastised her.

Buffy threw her an incredulous look. "Hello? What do you think couples do when they're having a baby? Kick the guy out to the couch and say 'see ya in nine months!'? Yeah, right," she retorted with a snort.

_Dammit... that was a great excuse – not!_ She thought, as she glanced around the room in a panic, as if hoping that something or someone would come to her rescue with a brilliant idea.

As if on cue, Hermione cleared her throat. "Actually, there is another alternative – there's a free cot in our tent," she said to Buffy.

Dawn was mentally praising the witch for her intervention, although it only took a moment for her to notice one little problem with that scenario.

"Ouch! Blimey, who kicked me?" Ron cried out, looking around to find the culprit.

Harry had turned slightly pink and she knew immediately that he was responsible, and assumed that he was aiming for Hermione instead. That meant that he'd noticed the problem too – if Buffy was sleeping in the tent, it wouldn't take long before she noticed Harry's evening escapades. Trying to keep their new-found relationship, or whatever it was, a secret was not working so well, and she was starting to contemplate giving up.

Buffy, Willow and Ron all seemed rather confused, although for some reason, Fleur continued on with her breakfast unfazed by it all; Dawn thought that perhaps she wasn't really paying attention to the conversation.

Harry suddenly joined the conversation, catching her by surprise, although she couldn't help but think, _About time!_ "If Dawn isn't keen on sharing, then maybe she could take the spare cot." He shrugged casually, and Dawn wanted to kiss him then and there, for the entire cottage to see.

That feeling didn't last very long.

"No way! She's not sleeping outside! It's much safer in here," Buffy protested and Dawn knew that she wasn't going to let her very far out of her sight that easily.

She couldn't help but notice Harry rolling his eyes at this. She knew how he felt, Buffy's complete over-protectiveness was reaching a whole new level, and frankly, it was starting to get on her nerves. She wasn't five-years-old, she could look after herself! And if that failed, there was also Harry and even the baby.

"Actually," Fleur spoke up, apparently she was still listening. "Ze wards around the 'ouse, including ze tent, are very safe. It wouldn't matter if she was inside or out."

Dawn knew that this wouldn't be enough to make her sister budge; she was too stubborn for that. She was forming plans of how she'd be able to sneak down to Harry when Willow spoke up.

"I'll sleep in the tent, and then you can have that bedroom to yourself, Buffy. You'll still just be across the hall from Dawn, and 'sides, it'll be easier for me to teach Harry some of my magic."

Everyone seemed happy with this arrangement; Dawn knew that it was the best result for the time being. She was starting to reside herself to the fact that her and Harry would just have to lay everything in the open soon anyway. Somehow, even after her promise not to, she'd found herself keeping another secret from her sister, and she was struck with guilt. But on the other hand, she thought that this was a different from the whole pregnancy saga, she felt like she had a right to keep her and Harry's relationship private if they chose to. However, considering Buffy's advice to her last week, it didn't sound like the slayer would be completely on board with her and Harry, that she would probably think that they were feeling obligated into something because of the baby. She didn't know if she could put everything into words to be able to explain it all to her sister either.

She sighed, threw Harry another quick look, before she continued on with her breakfast. When they had all finished, Buffy quickly approached Harry to see if he was interested in another training session with her and Willow. After their first session a few days ago, Harry had been stiff and sore for days, however he still seemed keen on the idea and promptly followed them out into the tent, which turned out to be the ideal training area once they had cleared some space. Ron followed them as well; quite keen to participate or help out where he could too. Hermione had watched with interest the first time, and Buffy had promised to take her aside and teach her some basic moves once Harry got some more training under his belt.

Once the group had exited the cottage, Hermione had begun on the dishes from breakfast, insisting that Fleur have a break from all the housework and that she should go and relax instead. She'd thanked the younger witch and promptly gone upstairs. Meanwhile, Dawn had gone to use the bathroom, and when she returned she made a move to help Hermione with the dishes, starting to dry the clean dishes.

"Oh," Hermione said when she noticed Dawn's presence. "I thought you'd gone outside as well."

Dawn shook her head. "It's really annoying having to sit on the side-lines when I used to be able to join in with that kinda stuff."

"You won't be restricted for too much longer, only a few more months or so," the older girl pointed out.

She somehow didn't feel comfort in these words, she couldn't shake the feeling that her life was never going to be 'normal' again and that she'd scarcely be able to do the things that she did before the prophecy and her pregnancy.

"I don't know," she replied with a sigh. "It doesn't really feel that way – I'll be stuck with the baby, I guess." The words seemed foreign out of her mouth - even though she had said them, she still had a difficult time imagining herself with a baby.

"That's what Harry is for," Hermione said in amusement, probably the most light-hearted she'd seen the girl since she'd met her, who usually appeared to be more serious. She liked being able to see this side of Hermione, but Dawn still couldn't help but think about how much easier she'd connected with Ginny. "I can't wait to see that," Hermione continued, letting out a laugh.

Dawn couldn't help but laugh along with her, between the two of them; they wouldn't have any idea on what they were doing. Which brought up a new dilemma for her to stew over – who was going to teach them any of that? Buffy and Willow certainly had no idea either.

"Anyway," Hermione started again, breaking her from her thoughts. "You'll have plenty of people around you, including your sister, Willow, or even myself."

"Thanks, Hermione," she replied sincerely, deciding that they would all have to learn it all together; they would get through it somehow.

Dawn began to move around the kitchen, putting away all the clean dishes that she'd dried, while Hermione continued on the last few plates.

"Things seem to be going well between you and Harry," she heard Hermione casually interject. "And you both seemed quite intent on stopping Buffy from sharing a room with you." She cleared her throat. "One thing Harry did tell me was that you were trying not to rush into anything, and I don't mean to seem prying or anything, but Harry's one of my best friends and I worry about him because things don't seem to be going that way."

Dawn wasn't taken completely by surprise at this; Harry had told her that, while Hermione knew that he was no spending his nights in the tent and was with her instead, he hadn't told his friend much at all. Hermione didn't know of the strange connection that her and Harry now shared, and why they had been so horrified of the idea of Buffy putting a stop to their being able to spend each night together. However, Harry had also warned her that Hermione was one of the most observant people he knew, and that he probably didn't need to say much and that she would figure most of it out for herself. Also, taking into account what the brunette witch had witnessed in the tent almost a week ago when her and Harry had lost their heads for a moment, Dawn was could understand why she might be concerned.

"Oh, no, we have been," Dawn was quick to reply, and she couldn't stop the slight heat from rushing to her cheeks. "It's all kinda hard to explain... it's another weird 'baby thing' – Harry's been sneaking upstairs 'coz there's some crazy thing where we can't sleep apart." She shrugged and Hermione halted her cleaning to turn around to look at her with a puzzled expression.

"Really?" she asked slowly to which Dawn nodded and could see her brain working overtime before she spoke up again. "That's... Well I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by any of this after what happened with Nott or with the horcrux." She appeared as if she was stuck by a new thought. "Dawn, I remember that you said something when I helped you alter your clothes last week. I thought it was Buffy coming up the stairs and you said 'don't worry, it's not Buffy' and I couldn't work out how you knew at the time... Did you know it was Harry because of the baby?"

Dawn quickly thought back and remembered that she'd felt that same calming, soothing feeling wash over her as the footsteps had arrived outside the bedroom door, so she knew it was Harry.

"Yeah, I don't know but there's a different feeling when he's around," she replied, placing a hand on her belly. "Wish the prophecy could've warned us about all this extra stuff too."

A second later, their attention was soon drawn towards the sound of the front opening, followed by the sound of several voices. Dawn looked around to see Harry and Ron re-entering the kitchen, and frowned at their unexpected appearance, they'd probably only been outside ten minutes.

"Thought you guys were out with Buffy," Dawn frowned, then noticing Lupin's appearance behind the two younger wizards. "Oh hey, Remus. What's going on?"

She didn't seem too concerned with the werewolf's visit, as she looked at him she noticed that he appeared quite happy, so she knew that he wasn't bringing them any bad news. There was actually even a smile that couldn't be torn from his face.

"Morning, Dawn, Hermione," he greeted. "I thought I would come and tell you the great news... Dora has had the baby!" he quickly revealed, obviously bursting with pride.

This immediately stirred up excitement in both her and Hermione, who were quick to get in their congratulations. The two boys must have already been told, because they didn't react with the same delighted surprise, although they both stood there smiling. Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow had entered the cottage, and Fleur had come racing down the stairs at the sound of excited voices.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Dawn exclaimed, catching Lupin off-guard with a hug.

When she pulled back, Fleur spoke up. "Ooh, Tonks 'as 'ad ze baby?" Lupin nodded. "When? And is it a boy or a girl?"

"Late last night, so I didn't want to disturb any of you at an inappropriate hour," he explained. "And it's a boy – Teddy Remus Lupin, named after his grandfather... and father, obviously."

"I'm sure zat he would 'ave liked zat," Fleur replied with a hand on his shoulder, and Dawn assumed that they were referring to Tonks' father; Lupin had told that he'd been killed by Death Eaters not too long back. "I think zat this deserves a special celebration, would you be able to stay for lunch?" she inquired, to which Lupin thanked her and nodded.

Somehow, although Dawn was excited by the news, there was also a nervousness bubbling in her stomach. Maybe it was because she knew that in a few months her and Harry would be in the same position, and she didn't know if she was ready for that. While everyone was standing around in the kitchen talking animatedly, Lupin suddenly took the opportunity to pull Harry and Dawn aside into the sitting room.

"While I came here to share the news with everyone, I also came here for something else," he began in a slightly more serious voice that had her worried.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Harry asked nervously, obviously as concerned as she was.

"Oh no, not at all," Lupin explained hurriedly with the shake of his head. "I was talking with Dora this morning and we both wanted to ask if you would both like to be Teddy's godparents."

Dawn was shocked by this, she may have expected Harry to be asked considering how long he'd known Lupin and how his father had been friends with him at school, but she wasn't expecting Lupin to ask her, who he'd literally only known less than six months. Then again, what they'd been through, with him keeping her secret and going to such lengths to find Harry again, they had gotten to know each other extremely well and had grown quite close. She was exceptionally touched by the gesture and found her eyes watering with the emotion, although she would like to blame it all on the hormones.

"Of course!" Harry had instantly replied, while he and Lupin briefly hugged.

The two wizards then turned to face her, waiting for her reply.

She nodded enthusiastically. "You bet!"

Lupin beamed at her, obviously extremely pleased that they'd both accepted. In the meantime, a million thoughts were rushing through her head. _Am I even gonna be able to meet him anytime soon? _ she wondered sadly. Due to the current situation, it was too dangerous for her to even leave Shell Cottage, and there was no way Lupin could bring the newborn to meet her, she thought that was as equally dangerous.

Buffy had then appeared in the room and begun discussing something with the werewolf, leaving Dawn and Harry standing on one side of the room together. He reached over and gave her hand a subtle squeeze, then dropping his hand back so that Buffy didn't notice.

"For something so joyful, you look kind of sad," he pointed out with a frown and she could feel his eyes boring into her.

She sighed. "It's exciting and all..." she trailed off.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked.

"It seems like there's always something that has to remind me that things aren't ever gonna be that simple for us," she explained, glancing over to see Harry throw her an understanding look. "I-"

Just as she was continuing on, she was cut off as the sight of Harry standing in front of her disappeared and everything went black. Although, she hadn't fainted again, she was still conscious and suddenly she felt as if she was being squished by a garbage compactor, or something of the sort. Her heart began racing a mile and minute, not liking this strange, unpleasant sensation. A moment later, she released a large breath as she could suddenly make surroundings out around her again, and relief quickly washed through her. However, this didn't last long when she scanned her surroundings and realised that she wasn't at Shell Cottage anymore.


	22. When They Come Clean

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: SURPRISE! I'm back! I did promise that I wouldn't abandon this story, and I'm living up to that promise. Well, things have been pretty full on since I was last writing, I've been working two jobs and so it is really hard to find the time to write, I reckon this chapter took me a couple of months to write. Please be patient with my updating, I'm doing the best I can with the present situation and I hope I haven't lost you all, - and that my writing isn't too rusty. Enjoy!

Thanks for everyone's continued support, I probably wouldn't have made it this far without you all.

* * *

><p><span>Previously:<span>

"_Then what's wrong?" he asked._

"_It seems like there's always something that has to remind me that things aren't ever gonna be that simple for us," she explained, glancing over to see Harry throw her an understanding look. "I-"_

_Just as she was continuing on, she was cut off as the sight of Harry standing in front of her disappeared and everything went black. Although, she hadn't fainted again, she was still conscious and suddenly she felt as if she was being squished by a garbage compactor, or something of the sort. Her heart began racing a mile and minute, not liking this strange, unpleasant sensation. A moment later, she released a large breath as she could suddenly make surroundings out around her again, and relief quickly washed through her. However, this didn't last long when she scanned her surroundings and realised that she wasn't at Shell Cottage anymore._

Chapter Twenty-Two – When They Come Clean

Feeling rather light-headed from her completely unexpected journey, and not to mention that it was the first time she'd ever apparated, Dawn momentarily supported herself by placing a hand on the foreign wall beside her. She directed her eyes upward enough to notice she was in a hallway somewhere, somewhere she definitely hadn't been before. _Where am I? _she quickly thought in a panic. Her next urgent thought was - why did the baby bring her here?

After the initial apprehension had begun to settle, as well as her dizzy spell subsiding, she was able to recognise that perhaps deep down there was even some relief at being freed from her safe house. She told herself that the baby wouldn't just deliver her into danger. At least, she didn't think it would.

She heard a sudden set of footsteps, no doubt hearing her slightly disorderly entrance.

"W-who are you?" An anxious older woman's voice appeared behind her.

Removing her hand from the wall, Dawn carefully turned to face the woman, who she could only assumed lived or owned the building she'd unintentionally invaded, while subconsciously placing a hand on her protruding stomach as she did so. Dawn watched the woman's gaze fall down towards her belly in curiosity, as she took the time to study the older woman. She was in her fifties, with dark hair that was lightly touched with strands of silver and a soft face, although Dawn could tell it was one that had seen its share of stress by the lines that had formed around both her mouth and forehead. And even though the woman seemed quite alarmed and threatened by Dawn's unexpected appearance, tightly grasping a wand and pointing it in her direction with great purpose, there was a motherly air to the woman that reminded Dawn of her own mother.

"Uh," Dawn began awkwardly. "Hey there, I-"

The woman's eyes widened slightly as she spoke, and suddenly she was lowering her wand. "Never mind, dear… I know who you are," she cut Dawn off with a look of recognition, simultaneously placing her wand back in her pocket.

Dawn was taken aback. How did this woman know her, if she had no clue as to where she was? The confusion must have been evident on her face, because the strange woman was quick to jump in with an explanation.

"Just about everyone knows who you are by now – it's been all over the Prophet since you and Harry Potter were at Hogwarts." Dawn already knew from her short time at Hogwarts that the Daily Prophet was a wizarding version of a newspaper. The older woman approached her and gently took her by the arm, ushering her down the hallway. "I'm Andromeda, by the way… No need to be alarmed, I'm a friend of the Order."

Dawn somewhat relaxed at the mention of the Order, confirming her thought that her unborn child wouldn't have intentionally delivered her into evil's grasp, however, she was still slightly unnerved at not knowing where she was. She didn't get a chance to speak up before she was guided through a door on their left.

"Now, you must come and sit down and tell us how you came to be here," Andromeda said in a soft voice as they entered a room.

"Mum? What's going on?" a new voice spoke up, causing Dawn's head to snap around. "Dawn! What are you doing here?"

She was greeted with the sight of an exhausted-looking Tonks sitting in an armchair, clutching a small bundle, wrapped tightly up in a white, knitted blanket. The baby began to stir at the sudden loudness, obviously not appreciating being disturbed from its slumber.

Andromeda approached Tonks and moved to take the crying baby. "Nymphadora!" she chastised in a half-whisper, to which Dawn noticed Tonks roll her eyes. "You cannot be so loud around such a newborn child."

Dawn was able to quickly register a resemblance between the women that she hadn't had a chance to notice until then. As she watched their interaction, she quickly came to the realisation that, for whatever reason, she'd been apparated to Remus and Tonks' house. Searching for an answering, her thoughts swiftly travelled back to the last few moments back at Shell Cottage, of Remus' arrival and how she'd been somewhat overwhelmed by Remus asking her to be Teddy's godmother. She remembered thinking of how she may not ever get a chance to meet her new godson - her magical, unborn child had obviously had other ideas, and surprisingly, the whole thing didn't completely shock after what she'd been through. However, Dawn did silently wish that she could get some warnings with those kinds of things.

"Yes, mum," Tonks replied almost robotically, drawing Dawn's attention back to the present conversation in the Lupin's living room. The new mother looked quizzically at her. "So, Dawn, what are you doing here? I thought they had you protected in a safe house," she looked past Dawn for a moment. "Did my husband bring you here?"

Dawn promptly shook her head, not quite knowing how to explain the situation. "Uh, not really... I kinda came by myself."

The mother and daughter shared a look of both shock and confusion.

"But you obviously can't apparate, you're not a witch," Tonks stated.

"We both heard the crack of an apparition," Andromeda chimed in, little Teddy had settled again in her arms, she gently soothed him back into slumber with a soft rocking motion.

Dawn scratched the side of her head and then brought her hand to rest on her pregnant belly. "Uh, well here's thing – I can't apparate," she paused for dramatic effect. "I just got pulled along for the ride, 'coz apparently Junior here takes after its father."

"The-the unborn child has the ability to apparate?!" Andromeda spluttered in disbelief, she noticed Tonks appeared just as shocked as her mother and couldn't blame them. She was getting quite used to surprising people nowadays, so she simply nodded in response. "T-that's extraordinary! So, I'm deducing from your nonchalance that the child has already displayed similar abilities?" The grandmother continued to quiz her with a shocked fascination.

"You could say that," Dawn managed, squirming somewhat under the attention, while an ironic voice in her head mocked the action. There was a time when she was back in Sunnydale, living in Buffy's shadow, that she would have given anything to be the centre of attention. Now a large part of her looked back in envy of those times of fading into the background.

"This was obviously an unexpected trip then?" Tonks finally spoke up after quietly observing the previous exchange. "No one else would know that you're here?"

Tonks' question quickly reminded Dawn of the danger that her presence brought with her. Whilst part of her felt relief to be released from the confine that Shell Cottage had become, she was struck with an overwhelming guilt of the risk that her unforeseen visit put on both Tonks and her newborn son. She found herself taking a few steps back towards the doorway.

She brought her hands up apologetically as she shook head her vigorously. "Shit, I'm so sorry! I'm putting your family in danger," she blurted out.

"Don't be silly, Dawn," Tonks said with a shake of her head. "It's not as if you had any control over this."

Andromeda swiftly handed Teddy back to his seated mother and looked between the two other women. "I must go and send a message to Remus immediately," she explained, to which Tonks gave an approving nod, before promptly leaving the room.

A silence fell over the room, an uncomfortable one for Dawn as she still stood by the doorway. She pensively found herself watching Tonks stare down at her newborn baby with a look that she couldn't quite put an apt description to - one of wonder, joy, accomplishment and yet still so much more. She shuffled her feet awkwardly, she felt like an intruder of the moment of bonding between mother and son. However, the noise her feet made was enough to break the spell and make Tonks glance back up at her.

The older woman smiled at her. "Don't just stand there, Dawn – please come and meet Teddy, he is your godson, after all. Remus did ask you and Harry?"

She smiled and nodded as she crossed the room until she was standing by the armchair, Tonks gestured her towards the padded footstool that rested beside the chair, and so she slowly took a seat.

"Would you like to hold him?" Tonks questioned, although she didn't really wait for a response before she started placing the newborn in Dawn's arms.

The teenager hadn't really had any experience around babies, so she was more than reluctant to hold one that wasn't even a day old yet. The terror must have been written clearly on her face, because Tonks smiled at her encouragingly and showed her how to cradle Teddy so that his head was supported in the nook of her arm.

"That's it," Tonks continued to encourage her. "Don't worry; it'll be good experience for you."

The witch certainly did have a point – if Dawn was going to have one of her own in a few months time, it was kind of important that she at least have held a newborn before. She knew that she still had so much to learn, as she looked down at her new godson just as he was letting out a large yawn.

"He's so small," she commented quietly, scared that she was going to set the baby off.

Tonks chuckled. "Well, I certainly think that he was big enough at the time."

Dawn found herself laughing along as well, although she was still slightly horrified each time the thought of childbirth floated across her mind, so she tried her best to quickly think of something a little less daunting.

Meanwhile, the two women fell into a comfortable silence for what felt like quite a while, casually conversing here and there, as Teddy's eyes drifted closed in a content slumber from his soft cradle in her arms. Dawn could also see that Tonks was still rather exhausted from the events of the past day, so she limited the conversation and gave her a chance to relax and recover.

Before long, Dawn's attention was taken by the sound of several cracks of apparition. She briefly glanced down at Teddy to see him flinch marginally at the sudden noise, only for his body and facial expression to go back to one of a deep sleep. As she looked back up towards the doorway, a warm feeling of comfort and home immediately washed over her, and she knew exactly what it meant.

She glanced back over at Tonks, who was also looking in the direction of the apparitions. "Harry's here," she said with such certainty that the older woman threw her a look of surprise.

* * *

><p>Harry glanced up at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time, as he paced the kitchen of Shell Cottage. It had been over half an hour and there was still no word, one moment Dawn had been standing before him, the next she was gone. From that moment on, everyone had been sent into a nervous frenzy - Buffy had accused <em>him<em> of doing something at first, but she'd soon realised that he was just as confused as the rest of them. Since then, all he could do was wear out the kitchen floor with his pacing, whilst Remus, Buffy and Fleur tried to discover what had happened.

In the meantime, Ron stood by the sink quietly, while Hermione approached Harry and tried to place a hand of comfort on his shoulder. He shrugged it off and continued to helplessly pace, all the worst case scenarios were running through his head and were preventing him from finding any comfort from his best friends. He was just praying that Dawn hadn't been put in harm's way - after all he'd been through over the years, he knew he couldn't lose her too.

"I don't understand, Remus," Buffy almost whined as she entered the kitchen, Harry could see the stress was taking its toll on her as well. "Where the hell is my sister?"

Remus, Willow and Fleur followed closely behind her, the wizard bringing his fingertips to his temples in clear frustration, a crack in his usually calm and collected demeanour. Harry could see that he had come to care for Dawn over time; why else would he have asked her to be Teddy's godmother?

"All I know is what Harry had observed... that she somehow apparated somewhere, although we are unable to trace where," he answered despondently.

"About the apparition," Hermione spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "Since Dawn's not a witch, we can only assume that it's a result of the baby's growing abilities, don't you agree?" This earned a stiff nod from Remus. "Well, I'm guessing that if the baby is responsible, that surely it wouldn't put her in any danger. Something has had to have triggered this apparition." She turned to look directly at Harry. "What we you both talking about when she disappeared?"

"Well Lupin had just asked us to be the godparents and we'd both accepted, and then..." He trailed off, staring at the floor as he tried to find the answer.

"What the hell is that?!" Buffy's loud exclamation tore him from his thoughts.

His head snapped up to see a silver light whizzing speedy circles around the room before settling on top of a dining chair to the left of Willow. Once it had stopped moving, Harry was able to recognise it as a Patronus in the form of a tiny sparrow, although he had no idea of whom the Patronus belonged to, he had never seen it before.

Remus brought his pointer finger to his lips to signal everyone into silence. "It's a message from Andromeda," he simply said, not bothering to fall into an explanation for the non-Wizarding folk present.

Harry vaguely recognised the name, although couldn't quite place where he had heard it before, he only hoped that they came bearing good news.

"_Remus, we have had an unexpected visitor grace us with her presence," _a middle-aged woman's voice filled the room, clearly startling both Buffy and Willow. _"You may want to come at once."_

These few words didn't instantly remove the dread in the pit of Harry's stomach, for one, they didn't explain much about what had happened and how Dawn was. He knew that the terrible nervous feeling wouldn't subside until he could see Dawn again for himself.

Whilst Buffy and Willow were still looking quite confused, Fleur exhaled with relief and placed a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Phew, well 'zat 'iz quite funny 'zat all 'zis time we 'ave been worried 'zat she 'as only been at your house!"

The Frenchwoman instantly triggered Harry's memory, and quickly he realised who the Patronus belonged to. He remembered back to when Sirius showed him his family's tapestry and how he'd mentioned his cousin Andromeda Black, who despite her Pureblood family had married a muggle. _She's Tonks' mother,_ he thought to himself as relief flooded through him, knowing it meant that Dawn was safe with both of them.

"At your house..." Willow trailed off questioningly at Lupin.

Lupin, who had visibly relaxed, promptly nodded. "That was Andromeda Tonks – my mother-in-law," he explained to those who didn't know, which counted for half the room.

"Uh, why would Dawn be at your house?" Ron spoke up for the first time, clearing his throat in the process.

"Yeah, what Red said," Buffy said, nodding in Ron's direction.

Lupin frowned in thought. "Well, I suppose-"

"So that she could meet her godson," Harry found himself cut in, as he came to a realisation out loud that made all eyes in the room focus on him. "Uh, but maybe we shouldn't get into that now... shouldn't we see if Dawn's alright now?"

"Hell yes!" Buffy replied, looking over to Lupin for direction.

The werewolf simply nodded and they spent a moment arguing over who should accompany Lupin to find Dawn. Buffy was obviously always going to be joining him, while Willow volunteered to stay with Ron, Hermione and Fleur. Whilst trying not to sound too desperate to join Lupin and Buffy, Harry was insistent on accompanying them. Although there was some hesitation from the pair because they were obviously concerned for his safety, it wasn't as if they could stop him from going, he was of age after all, not to mention that was the mother of his child out there, who was in just as much danger from leaving the protective wards of Shell Cottage as he was.

Before long, the three of them had apparated to the Lupin/Tonks household, Buffy side-apparating with Lupin. They were greeted by a middle-aged woman that Harry could immediately see shared a resemblance with her two sisters, Bellatrix and Narcissa, although he noticed there was softness in her face that the other two siblings lacked.

"Ah, Harry Potter," she began, like he'd heard so many times from many people over the past few years. "It's so nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you from both Remus and my daughter," she finished with a smile. "I'm Andromeda Tonks."

Harry was caught slightly off-guard; there was a tone in her voice that made him believe the she actually was only referring to what she'd been told by Tonks and Lupin, and not by what the Wizarding Community had been saying about him all these years. He found it highly unusual and refreshing, and decided then and there that he already liked the woman standing before them.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you too," he replied pleasantly, although in his mind he was still worrying about Dawn.

Andromeda then noticed there was another stranger was standing in her entrance hall, so Lupin stepped in to introduce the two women to each other.

"This is Buffy Summers."

"Oh yes, you're the slayer," Andromeda's face lit up in recognition. "Very nice to meet you." Buffy briefly returned the sentiment. "Remus did mention that you are Dawn's older sister, I suppose you are all wondering as to her whereabouts - she is just over in the sitting room with Nymphadora."

Lupin simply nodded and proceeded to lead them down a hallway and towards the back end of the house, Buffy followed behind eagerly, followed by Harry, and then Andromeda at the rear. Just as Harry entered the sitting room, he heard Buffy call out her sister's name and was then able to catch sight of the brunette for himself, just as the slayer approached Dawn's side.

She was sitting beside Tonks, with a small bundle in a blanket cradled in her arms. The sight caused him to stop in his tracks for a moment, he was struck with the reality that in just a short few months, that wouldn't be his godson there in her arms, but their own son or daughter. The thought took the wind out of his chest, and he needed a moment or two to collect himself again. As he did so, Buffy was throwing Dawn a million questions to see if she was alright, and to figure out what had happened, whilst Remus went between talking quietly to his wife and joining in on Buffy and Dawn's discussions.

Meanwhile, Andromeda came to stand beside him. He turned his head ever-so-slightly and glanced over to see that she was looking over at him with a knowing looking.

"She seems like a remarkable young lady," the witch said quietly.

Although he'd only just met the woman, he couldn't help himself from nodding with a barely audible reply, "She is."

Andromeda smiled at him and then moved towards everyone who was in the room. "I think we should move discussions away from my exhausted daughter and grandson, so that they can get some much-needed rest," she suggested firmly, motioning towards the doorway.

"Oops… yeah, sorry there Tonks!" Buffy was quick to apologise, then looking back down at her sister. "You coming? Don't want you making another disappearing act before we can get you back."

A ghost of a sombre look fell over Dawn's features as she nodded, perhaps unnoticeable to most people, but Harry saw it. "Yep, just few more minutes here – I'll catch up."

Lupin pulled his wife's hand and brought it up to his mouth for a moment, before he and Andromeda lead the way out of the sitting room, with Buffy following closely behind. Harry lingered behind, especially considering he hadn't even had a chance to talk to Dawn since arriving at Lupin's house. Considering he was earlier toying with the idea that she might have been in grave danger less than an hour ago, he was extremely eager to tell her how relieved he was to see her safe and sound. So he walked over to the two remaining women, upon his approach Dawn looked up at him with a large smile.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," Harry replied, telling himself to keep his cool in front of the pair, even though his heart was still recovering from the recent events. "Are you alright? I-" he stopped himself from saying too much just in time, the fact that Tonks was sitting right beside Dawn didn't escape him.

"Peachy," Dawn said casually, glancing back down at Teddy, she clearly didn't realise the extent of panic she'd put everyone through while she was unaccounted for. "Looks like Junior really wanted us to meet our godson..." she trailed off, meeting his gaze again. "Wanna hold him?"

"Uh," he began nervously, looking towards Tonks unsurely.

Due to his deprived upbringing and lack of real family as a child, Harry had really never even seen a baby up close in his seventeen years, let alone held one. And Teddy looked so tiny and fragile; he had visions of himself accidentally doing something harmful to the newborn. _What about when it's your own child? That's not very far away, _an annoying voice told him, which unfortunately had a valid point.

Harry sighed. "I don't know how," he ended up admitting to the two women.

Tonks waved a dismissing hand at him. "That's alright, Harry - Dawn didn't either."

He looked back to Dawn, who nodded in confirmation. He found this piece of information quite comforting for some reason, perhaps it was because he knew that he and Dawn were both in the same position and would be learning and sharing everything together. They were certainly in everything together from now on; he would make sure of it.

After both Dawn and Tonks had instructed him on how to properly hold Teddy, he found himself spending a few moments of reflection. Here he was, now a godfather holding his brand-new godson. He couldn't help but imagine Sirius and his parents at his own birth, filled with so much love and excitement, not knowing what horror was in store for them all. Although he knew it was a definite possibility, he just really hoped that Teddy didn't have to lose his parents or his godfather to war and destruction like he had. Not to mention, Harry wished the same for his own child.

Teddy began to whimper and squirm in his arms, which very quickly developed into a loud wail - Harry thought it was a good opportunity to give him back to his mother. Tonks stepped in and quickly tried to soothe the tired and stressed baby, giving Harry an opportunity to turn his attention back to Dawn, who was staring at him peculiarly.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

She giggled under her breath and shrugged. "Forget it," she replied.

Whilst Tonks was distracted with Teddy, Harry gently took Dawn by the elbow and pulled her over to the other side of the room, in a corner between the doorway and a bookcase.

"What's up?" It was now her turn to quiz him, she looked at him with raised eyebrows, obviously wondering about the sudden relocation.

This slightly irked an annoyance in Harry, that Dawn was completely oblivious to how scary her unexpected apparition had been, especially when you considered how she had been asleep for days after the baby had last used magic.

"Well, are you alright? Do you feel okay?" He looked up and down, as if checking her over.

She nodded. "I'm fine... I mean, a little more with the tired than usual, but I'm not gonna pull another Sleeping Beauty on you, if that's what you're freaked about," she replied; at least she somewhat understood Harry's concern.

Harry stepped in closer to her and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Of course I'm worried, Dawn," he glanced over to the doorway, followed by an occupied Tonks, and then back Dawn. "You disappeared right in front of me - you could've been in danger. I-" he stopped talking suddenly, frustrated that they were reduced to whispering in the corner, when all he wanted to do was show her how relieved he was to see her.

Footsteps echoed up the hall, causing Harry to self-consciously take a step back from Dawn. A moment later, Buffy peered into the room again, her eyes eventually falling on them.

"Well," she said impatiently. "What are you guys doing? Let's get moving!"

Dawn nodded, quickly thanked and farewelled Tonks and then followed her sister. Harry hesitantly followed behind them. He just couldn't stop himself from pondering just how complicated things had become, especially when it came to Dawn.

* * *

><p>Dawn's return to Shell Cottage was a bittersweet moment, she had savoured in the change of scenery, not knowing when she'd get another opportunity to leave again. Although, at the same time, she felt more comfortable to back in the safety of the wards, knowing that she wasn't putting Tonks, Andromeda or Teddy in unnecessary danger. In the meanwhile, Willow had been the first to greet her with a huge embrace and a sigh of relief, followed by a stream of 'welcome back's from everyone else. It didn't take long for them all, especially Buffy, to grill her for details of her unexpected apparating experience, especially due to the unusual circumstances of it. She thought that they were all concerned that it might happen again, personally, considering the baby had saved her life and given her the opportunity to meet her godson, she trusted that it wouldn't happen again without good reason.<p>

For the moment, her sister was fussing over her as usual, and whilst she knew it came from a place of love, sometimes she had to hold back a roll of the eyes here and there. At the same time, Hermione was in the process analysing the baby's increasing abilities, when Dawn sensed Harry's stare from across the kitchen. She glanced over in mid-sentence to see that he was hovering over by the door that led out to the staircase. She could immediately feel his resolution in seeing her in private; she could tell there was something on his mind ever since they'd been reunited at the Lupin's because he'd been acting a little strange, much quieter than usual.

"Hermione, I'm just gonna crash upstairs for a bit," she said quickly, directing her gaze back at the brilliant witch.

"Are you alright?" Hermione responded with a concerned look, at the same time Dawn could also feel Buffy's eyes on her.

She looked between the witch and her sister and nodded. "Yeah, just a bit tired is all, with Junior apparating me and whatnot." She tried to settle their minds with a casual wave of her hand. "Don't worry, it's not repeat of Hogwarts, I'm just a little spaced out."

Dawn wasn't exactly lying either, she did feel slightly weary from the whole experience and relished in the thought of escaping the group for a while. She turned her head back towards the door and saw that Harry had already disappeared from his position by the door, so she quickly finished dismissing herself and immediately ascended the staircase. When she reached the top, she saw that the door to her room was left ajar, so she walked over and pushed it open to find Harry standing by the window. He looked over when she entered, she could see that there was now a softer look in his eyes.

"Hey." She smiled pulling the door closed behind her.

She'd barely had time to close the door before Harry was across the room and had put his lips on hers. Then she almost didn't have any time to react before she felt his lips leave hers, and was pulled against him into a tight embrace.

"Whoa, what was that for?" she inquired with raised eyebrows, caught off-guard by Harry's unexpected enthusiasm.

Harry pulled away from her with slightly reddened cheeks. "Sorry," he mumbled before clearing his throat. "I didn't get a chance to do that earlier," he added.

She reached over and took his hand in hers. "Hey, I'm not complaining," she said with a laugh. "Sorry I didn't think about how freaked out you must've been with my Houdini act earlier. I-" she paused to stifle a yawn, drawing out the 'I' sound in one long note as she did so.

Harry frowned at her. "You should get some rest," he began, nodding in the direction of the bed. "Sleep seems to help you recover."

Because she felt herself growing more and more tired, she didn't bother arguing with him. Still grasping his hand, she went over to the bed, pulling him with her. They'd been able to build this silent communication, she didn't have to say anything for him to follow her lead and climb onto the bed beside her. Harry placed some pillows behind him and propped himself up against the head of the bed. Being the middle of the day, Dawn knew that he wasn't at all tired but they both knew that she probably wouldn't get the sleep she needed if he wasn't there.

She slid down until her head was resting against the side of his chest, his arm automatically snaked around her back, enveloping her with a warmth and security, which she hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Harry?" she found herself mumbling into his chest.

"Yes, Dawn?" he responded softly.

She paused in that moment, not quite knowing what to say as her eyes became heavy. "I… thanks," she found herself saying before everything became hazy with sleep, although in that moment she swore she heard him form a muffled reply.

When Dawn opened her eyes again, the sun was actually breaking through the clouds and was streaming through the window in beams of soft, pale-yellow light. She let out a sigh of relief when she realised that she could still feel the gentle rise and fall of Harry's chest under her head, relieved by the fact the she hadn't fallen into a sleep that lasted for days, like she had when the baby had saved her from the killing curse. She was glad that at least being apparated had only worn her out for a few hours, so she let out a deep sigh of contentment. She slowly craned her neck up to see Harry's beautiful green eyes gazing back down at her.

"You're still here," she stated with a smile.

Harry nodded strongly. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, there was something in his tone that Dawn couldn't quite pick.

She pushed herself up to a seated position, twisting around to face him. "Dunno, just thought you might skip out after I fell asleep," she said, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What time is it?"

He glanced down at his watch for a moment. "Just after half four."

She couldn't help but giggle at his decidedly British reply. She had decided that if things didn't work out between her and Harry after everything, and well, she didn't die, that she wouldn't be able to go back to American men again. The more she thought about it, the more fitting being with Harry seemed – two of the main male figures in her life thus far were British, not to mention Angel was originally from nearby Ireland. It all seemed to piece together in her mind.

After her amused reaction, The Boy Who Lived threw her a confused look. She just waved off his confusion with a shake of her head and a quiet "never mind".

"So you've been sitting here for hours while I was out of it?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Wasn't that kinda boring?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't mind at all, really. I had loads to think about."

"Is that a good thing?" she found herself joking, although she was quite interested and concerned at the same time about what could have required that much contemplation. The serious look that formed on his face didn't really fill her with confidence either. "Oh god, what is it?"

She pushed herself off the bed and turned to face him, Harry quickly followed suit. He shifted his feet in obvious uncertainty; Dawn could tell that he was hesitant of her reaction.

"Well, we obviously can't predict your sister's reaction, and I know you wanted it to be between us…" He took in a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "But after what happened earlier, I was both so worried and then relieved to see you again - although I didn't feel like I could really show it around everyone else." Dawn began to wonder where his monologue was heading. "I don't want to make my life any more complicated - especially with you, Dawn... I don't think we should try and hide from everyone downstairs anymore…" He paused to take another deep breath. "Uh, but it's your choice in the end."

Whilst she had enjoyed being able to share some things with just Harry and no one else, she immediately knew he was right. There were so many other things going on in their lives, sneaking around like ninjas was already starting to become tiresome. Not to mention, Dawn always seemed to notice a never-ending guilt in the back of her mind for keeping more secrets from Buffy, particularly after concealing her pregnancy from her for so long.

"You're right," she replied with a sigh, noticing that Harry visibly relaxed at this, like perhaps he wasn't expecting her to agree so easily. "I can't keep keeping secrets from Buffy."

"Should we go talk to her now?"

She shrugged. "I guess... Like ripping off a bandaid – get the pain over quick. Unless you've got a better approach?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, actually, I think I might," he finally said and she felt Harry take her hand in his.

* * *

><p>As the pair neared the kitchen with each descending stair bring them closer and closer, the voices pouring out into the entry hall got louder and louder. Harry could hear a strong male voice that alerted them to the fact that Bill was home from his work at Gringotts, in Diagon Alley. He was able to make out the retellings of the day's events directed at the curse-breaker, who'd obviously missed all the strange happenings.<p>

Meanwhile, neither teen had said a word to each other. Harry still held Dawn's hand securely in his, and to him it felt like two pieces of a whole that were always meant to fit together. He briefly wondered if she was feeling the same thing. He glanced across at her and gave her a small, reassuring smile, in which she returned, even though he knew she had just as many nerves bubbling in her stomach as he did. He was certainly anticipating that they might have to encounter an angry slayer in a matter of moments, although while trying not to show his trepidation for Dawn's sake.

Before he knew it, they were at the doorway and he found himself hesitating for a moment. Dawn had taken another step, causing a pull on their linked arms. She turned to look at him.

"Come on, Harry," she began quietly. "You're right, let's just play it down… play it cool. You'd have no trouble with that, I mean, you _are_ British."

She let out a small giggle and took another step, which pulled him with her before he could respond or feign offence at her quip. He took a quick double-step to catch up and fall at her side once more. Everyone was present, apart from Lupin, who had gone back home to his wife not long after they'd returned. Harry knew this because the werewolf had come searching for his whereabouts upstairs, knocking quietly on the door and to be greeted with the sight of an unconscious Dawn curled up comfortably against him. Remus simply smiled and nodded at him, before bidding him a farewell, not at all surprised by the sight in front of him, which made Harry believe that Lupin had already been somewhat aware of the whole situation beforehand.

Hermione was in mid-sentence when both he and Dawn entered the room, hands still strongly linked. Without missing a beat, the brunette witch seemed to understand that he and Dawn were trying to fly under the radar because she continued talking when everyone else turned to look, trying to keep all their attention away from them. He told himself that he would have to specifically thank his friend later on, because it certainly did reduce the awkwardness in the moment. Bill and Fleur both quickly looked away and went back to what they were doing, while Harry noticed a small smile creep on Willow's face, who also said nothing and turned her attention away. Meanwhile, Ron looked somewhat shocked, and perhaps a little upset that he'd been kept out of the loop by his best friend. He knew he was well overdue for a talk with the redhead and banked it into his mental 'to do list'.

However, he had still yet to gauge the most important reaction of the group, slightly nervously throwing a quick look towards Buffy as he and Dawn joined the group, taking seats at the dining table opposite the slayer and in between Willow and Hermione. Once seated, he glanced casually over at the blonde sitting across from him - although it was no surprise that she'd been watching them, Harry was totally surprised to see her look back away from them and turn her focus back to what Hermione's talking. It was only when he felt Dawn squeeze his hand to get his attention, that he realised they were still clasping each other's hand underneath the table. She threw him a look with raised eyebrows that showed that she was just as surprised as he was about her sister's reaction, or lack thereof.

Harry definitely hadn't expected his idea to work quite as well as it did. He was thankful to avoid another dramatic encounter with Buffy, even if he did feel like he was much less intimidated by her than when he had first met her. He was even happier to save Dawn from the added pressure, knowing that she'd already been through so much more stress than any normal pregnant woman usually endured.

The conversation continued to flow through into dinner, when Dawn excused herself to the bathroom, Harry noticed Buffy quietly slip out of the room on her sister's trail, relatively unnoticed by the rest of the room. He debated with himself on whether he should follow the pair, when Ron settled himself into Dawn's unoccupied chair.

"Harry, mate," the redhead began quietly in a hurt voice. "I thought we told each other everything," he paused thoughtfully. "I guess that stopped when you met Dawn…"


	23. When Dawn Has a Dream

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Hello everybody! (well, those who are still hanging in there) Thanks for bearing with me while I went through a tough period of finding time to write, and finding inspiration to write, for that matter. Well this certainly was a difficult chapter to get through, and even though I always knew where this story was going, I've got a better idea on how to tackle the remaining chapters now.

I really appreciate the readers who have been there from the start and couldn't have gotten this far without you, so enjoy this next chapter!

EDIT (7th of March, 2013) - Thanks to **Gwenlynn** for pointing out my little mistake to do with the Sweet incident - it's been a while since I've seen OMWF, and I'd completely forgotten that Xander had summoned him!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-Three – When Dawn Has a Dream<span>

Dawn sighed as she turned off the water, before drying her hands and moving to open the bathroom door. As she did so, she caught a side-glance of herself in the bathroom mirror, which caused her to stop and take the time to really look at herself, something she felt like she hadn't had a chance to do in recent times. The past few weeks had been particularly demanding on her, as she looked at her face, it did somewhat show – there were dark circles under both eyes, subtle but most certainly noticeable when she really looked. She immediately thought to hearing people talk about the 'pregnancy glow', she certainly didn't see it – she thought she looked tired and horrible. However, she also noticed other changes to her face; it seemed to have gotten fuller, especially around the cheeks. She quickly realised that this was the result of the pregnancy, and she was slightly horrified by the thought of gaining pounds. Not to mention, as the glanced at her body she noticed her chest was larger than its usual proportions.

_How come I'm only noticing this now?_ she thought to herself as she crossed her arms across her chest in a mixture of embarrassment and dismay.

"Everything okay, Dawnie?" Buffy's voice startled her from the open doorway, causing her to swing around and drop her arms at her sides. Dawn quickly nodded, while the slayer studied her closely. "You sure? You kinda looked all broody about something…"

Dawn sighed, glancing at the mirror briefly before turning back to face her sister. "Well, yeah, I'm seventeen – I was still growing into my old body and now there's this." She motioned to herself, then dropping her hands at her sides in a thump of frustration.

"Tell me about it, I'm still trying to get used to seeing my little sister pregnant and all," Buffy paused, looking pensive. Dawn could almost anticipate what she was going to say next. "And also getting all close and secretive with a certain dark-haired, father-of-her-baby… Come on, Dawn, time to spill the beans!"

She knew it was coming, but she still felt slightly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation, so Dawn shrugged and stepped around her sister and into the hallway. Buffy's footsteps were right on her tail, following her to the top of the stairs.

"Come on, Dawnie," Buffy called out to her, she thought she could almost hear a desperation in her tone. "I'm not gonna go all postal on you. I… we used to be closer, I thought we did." Dawn stopped in her tracks and guiltily turned to face the blonde. "But it feels like you're slipping away. And now I can see why – what's going on with Harry?"

Dawn took a deep breath, feeling like the conversation was going to take enough out of her without having to linger at the top of the stairs for it, and so she moved to sit on the top step, leaving enough room for Buffy to join her. As she did so, she tried to decide what she was going to say, she was still having trouble gauging how her sister was feeling about the idea of her and Harry. Well, she wasn't screaming at her, so she knew that was a good start.

"I, uh… I dunno, I can't explain it," she managed as she stared down at her feet, she really couldn't find the right words. How could she explain the entirely unique situation that they'd found themselves in, and most importantly, the extraordinary and overwhelming connection between her and Harry?

"So you lied to me again, Dawn!" Buffy complained, finally sitting down next to her. Dawn glanced up to see her staring at her with a deep frown. "I asked you if there was anything going on and you said 'no'."

Dawn adamantly shook her head. "No, I didn't! You were going on about us not feeling pressured into anything with the baby and whatnot, and I said 'no' 'coz we haven't been – pressured, that is."

"Well that's totally grasping at straws!" Buffy shot back with raised eyebrows. "So what's the real deal then?"

She shrugged awkwardly, she still believed that what she had with Harry was special, not necessarily something she wanted to share with anyone else, but she also knew that her sister deserved some answers after so many months of lies and secrecy. She owed her that much.

"I d-… there's a connection. Ugh, I don't know how to explain it!" she said, running her hands through her hair in frustration. "Harry's… Well, come on Buff, surely you'd understand with what you had with Angel – that was pretty intense stuff." She looked to see that Buffy was still waiting for more explanation, so she continued on. "I mean, there's some stuff that's probably connected with the baby and this prophecy thing, but I can actually sense when he's nearby… well, the baby can."

"What?" Buffy asked with surprise.

"And did you know that since Harry came back, I was having trouble sleeping without him nearby?" Dawn quickly added.

Buffy continued to look stunned. "How'd you know you couldn't sleep because of Harry? Unless…" she trailed off as she came to the conclusion. "Dawn! What have you-" she cut herself off, looking like she was struck with another thought. "That's why you were so into keeping that bedroom to yourself! You and Harry were doing who-the-hell-knows-what in there."

"Hey!" Dawn chimed in; she wanted to quickly stop her from getting the wrong idea. "He's actually felt the same things too, so we've just been actually sleeping… for the most part." She felt her cheeks warm up in embarrassment.

"So you haven't...?" the blonde trailed off.

"No!" she responded immediately, just knowing that her cheeks had flushed completely red by that point. "It's not like that; I'm not like that… 'sides it's deeper than just that."

"Hey, it's all good." Buffy held her hands up defensively. "I had check, even if it's kinda pointless giving you 'the talk'," she paused and took a deep breath. "I hate to admit it, but Harry's a nice guy… and if there was ever a guy for you that had the least chance of me wanting to whop his ass, I guess it's Harry."

Dawn found herself blinking a few times in disbelief. She was almost beginning to believe that there was an imposter sitting in her sister's place, never had she known Buffy to react so calmly to something so important, especially when it came to her.

"Wait, so you're not angry? And is that you're way of saying you approve?" she asked hurriedly, as if the previous words were going to be taken back at any moment.

The blonde sighed, her face softened. "You're growing up, Dawn. Obviously," she added, glancing down at Dawn's growing stomach. "I might not be throwing any parties about it anytime soon, but I guess I can't fight it. We've gotta focus the fighting on the dark-evil-wizard-dude anyway… Oh, and I wanna say right now – just 'coz I've said I'm good with it, don't be going round overloading on the PDAs around me – you're still my little sis, that's too much gross for me to handle right now."

She found herself nodding enthusiastically. Anyway, getting to know Harry better, he didn't exactly strike her as much of a PDA sort of person. She was just ecstatic at the idea of not having to be sneaking around in such a small cottage filled with so many people, which was quite funny considering that it was her proposal in the first place. She found herself thanking Harry for his earlier suggestion of being open with everyone, perhaps he was starting to know her better than she knew herself. And even though she knew that she was practically an adult now and didn't really her Buffy's approval, it was still something that she liked to have. She didn't have her mother anymore, and somehow all those feelings of needing to make her proud had transferred onto her sister.

Dawn threw her arms around her sister, although she had to twist somewhat awkwardly to do so due to their seated position on the staircase. Buffy quickly reciprocated the embrace; Dawn felt her resting her cheek on the side of her head. In that moment, the younger Summers sister felt lighter and happier than she had in months, possibly even a year.

"I'm sorry I've shut you out, Buffy," she mumbled into Buffy's thick blonde hair. "I'm always scared I'll disappoint you or something, especially after mom died 'coz you're-"

"Hey!" Buffy interrupted, finally pulling away from the embrace to look Dawn in the eye. "You never disappoint me. Actually, I'm proud of the way you're dealing with this whole prophecy thing and-"

The sound of shuffling feet at the bottom of the stairs reached their ears, immediately drawing the attention of the two sisters. Dawn quickly spotted Hermione, who was looking at them apologetically.

"Oh, I'm sorry Buffy, Dawn!" she began hurriedly, looking like she'd just realised that she had interrupted an important conversation. "Fleur was wondering if either of you would be interested in some dessert… she made crème brûlée."

Despite her earlier self-conscious thoughts about her changing body, the temptation of the offer seemed too good for Dawn to pass up and she found herself nodding. "Yum, I'm in!"

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Harry had spent the previous quarter of an hour fending off question after question from Ron, who was trying his best to get more information out of his best friend. He wasn't very obliging towards the redhead; he found that he just didn't want to divulge the details of his and Dawn's unusual relationship at that particular point in time. He almost felt like the special connection could be lost if anyone else was let in on it, even if he knew that sounded a little stupid. Meanwhile, he could see his tight-lipped approach was stirring something in Ron, perhaps jealousy or resentment, and this struck Harry with a pang of guilt. Things were certainly changing, particularly the relationships he had with those around him - some were growing stronger, others apart.<p>

Harry looked solemnly at the table in front of him, just as Ron had returned to his seat with a slight huff. He was really beginning to come to the sad realisation that his childhood was officially over. Then again, he wondered why he was only coming to that realisation now, when it had clearly ended the day he met Dawn.

_Dawn._ The sudden thought of her made him realise that she still hadn't returned from her trip to the bathroom. He looked up at the door in nervous anticipation because he immediately knew that she must have been having a long discussion with her sister, and most likely about him. Hermione, who was assisting Fleur with dessert, must have noticed his anxious glance because she caught eye contact with him and gave the tiniest nod before she left the kitchen.

When all three women returned moments later in a relaxed banter, he found himself releasing a breath he didn't even notice that he was holding. His eyes naturally followed Dawn as she moved back towards her seat, as she sat down she turned and threw him a smile, knowing that he was wondering what had happened with Buffy. She silently nodded; he assumed that meant she would tell him later. She then eagerly turned her attention towards the plate of dessert that was being presented before her, so he did the same.

"Just like my grand-mère used to make," Fleur announced as she took a seat next to her husband.

Harry watched as Bill leaned over to place a gentle kiss on his wife's temple, suddenly an interaction between two people such as the one before him seemed to catch his attention more so than ever before, although he couldn't quite place why.

"Mmm, it's delicious," Willow commented between mouthfuls. "I think Ron's enjoying it too," she jested as she looked at the redhead.

Everyone joined together in laughter as Ron shovelled (Harry thought this was the most apt description) his brûlée into his mouth. Hermione nudged him with her elbow, causing him to finally tear his attention away from his plate.

"Fhat?" he mumbled with a full mouth when he realised everyone was watching him.

Hermione shook her head in disapproval, whilst everyone else in the room continued to be amused. These days, they all took laughter out of the little things. Sometimes it was all they had to work with, especially with the ongoing threat of being discovered by Voldemort or his Death Eaters. Meanwhile it was at that point, while the attention was well and truly directed away from him and Dawn, that Harry unexpectedly felt Dawn's hand envelope his underneath the table. His head snapped around to peer at the brunette beside him, who didn't even meet his gaze and instead gave his hand an acknowledging squeeze.

He felt liked they'd become so accustomed to keeping secrets, sneaking around that this obscured gesture was almost continuing down that path. They'd agreed to each other to put an end to that, and he thought to himself - why shouldn't they be able to be like Bill and Fleur? The situation, their ages and everything else didn't mean that they didn't deserve something normal, that they had to hide away. So, Harry slowly moved their joined hands and placed them upon the table. He felt Dawn try to move her hand out of surprise, so he tightened his grip a little to keep their hands securely joined. She then threw him a curious look, however she must have found some form of understanding in his casual expression because her face finally relaxed and she nodded softly, almost as if she'd heard his previous thoughts as well.

Then he finally dared a glance at Buffy, who he hadn't really looked at since she'd re-entered the kitchen. The slayer ever-so-lightly pursed her lips together for a few seconds. Suddenly Harry was thinking that maybe he'd read the whole situation completely wrong. He thought that Dawn and Buffy's discussion had gone well, but maybe she was more upset about him and Dawn than they'd both let on. He watched as she then gave a silent sigh, as she exhaled he almost missed the tiny nod she gave him. _Does that mean…_ he wondered. _Is that her approval?_

Now that he was getting to know the slayer better, Harry anticipated that Buffy would still want to talk to him later, so he decided to push the thoughts aside until that time came. Meanwhile, both he and Dawn found eating difficult with only one available hand, so he reluctantly letting go of Dawn's hand. It almost felt like a small void was left in the wake of this action but he tried his best to ignore it and carry on with his dessert.

After dinner, most of them had relocated to the sitting room across the entry hall, excluding Bill, who unlike everyone else, had had to put in a full day's work and was exhausted, retiring for the evening. Hermione had also left, going to the tent to read. As time passed and the yawns became contagious, spreading around the group until Fleur had no choice but to bid everyone 'goodnight' and join her husband. Buffy wasn't far behind, although Harry did note the glance she threw both himself and Dawn as she left. Now only Ron, Willow, Dawn and himself remained. Willow and Dawn were animatedly sharing a story about a demon that had caused Sunnydale to turn into a living musical. Both he and Ron couldn't hide their amusement at the imagery the story conjured, Harry had a hard time imagining someone like Buffy or Rupert Giles singing and dancing their way around. On the other hand, when he'd heard that Dawn had been kidnapped by Sweet and he had wanted her to become his bride, he somehow wasn't surprised to hear that Dawn had been caught up right in the centre of the whole craziness. He was starting to learn that Dawn had a way of attracting trouble, but then again so did he. It was only further proof in his mind that they were meant to be together, despite the prophecy.

As the pair continued with their storytelling, Harry found himself smirking with mirth and shaking his head as he looked over at Dawn.

"Oh, shut up you," she defended herself playfully, giving his arm a small shove.

Ron looked between the pair with raised eyebrows, before his thoughts fell back to the story and a look of confusion passed over his features. "What I don't understand is how come the wizarding community doesn't encounter many demons, well, rather any, for that matter," he directed at Willow in particular.

"I dunno," Willow responded with a casual shrug, whilst looking thoughtful. "I guess the Hellmouth was like a demon magnetic point, attracted all the nasty guys to us."

"That's been gone now for almost a year," Harry weighed in. "And we still haven't seen very many in Britain."

"But Willow worked her magic and now there's hundreds of slayers keeping them in check, right?" Dawn replied uncertainly, looking to the redheaded woman for confirmation.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, even if the demon population had spread after the collapse of the Hellmouth, the slayers we've been locating and helping have really helped kick some demon ass. That, and there's another Hellmouth in Cleveland – there's heaps of girls stationed there, too." Suddenly, the older woman couldn't prevent a large yawn from escaping her mouth. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head for a moment. "Well, I'm beat – it's been a pretty eventful day," she added, smiling warmly at Dawn.

"It is pretty late," Dawn pointed out, glancing up at the clock above the fireplace.

Nodding in agreement, they all shuffled their way out of the sitting room.

"You didn't even finish telling us about what happened with Sweet!" Ron complained lightly, making his way to the front door.

"There's plenty more time for that… plenty," Dawn trailed off; Harry noticed a faraway expression fall over her features. She inhaled deeply and then quickly came out of it. "Anyway, 'night guys."

She quickly moved towards the stairs and began ascending them as Willow and Ron both returned the sentiment. Willow and Ron then both made a move towards the door, while Harry was still yet to make a move. Ron obviously had noticed this because he paused and turned back towards him, wondering why he was still lingering at the foot of the stairs.

"Harry, are you coming, mate?" Ron asked with a frown.

Now that both he and Dawn had decided to not keep any secrets from the others, and the fact that he was sick and tired of the elaborate sneaking around at night, Harry made a split-second decision.

"Actually, no," he replied simply with a quick shake of the head.

Without any hesitation, Harry spun on his feet and followed Dawn's echoing footsteps up the staircase. Dawn had turned around when she'd heard him on her heels, throwing him a beaming smile before looking past him towards the door.

"You're catching flies, Ron," she said, her voice thick with amusement.

Harry glanced back just in time to see Willow ushering her fellow redhead out the front door. By the time he'd reached the top landing, he was wondering to himself why they'd spent so much time and energy being so secretive – openness and honesty with Dawn felt so right.

* * *

><p>"Thank you so much, Harry," Dawn said as she threw her arms around his neck. "If Ron's stupid goldfish impression is all we ever had to worry about, then I wouldn't have bothered with all the sneaking around. I'm sorry."<p>

Harry's features fell into a deep frown. "Don't apologise, Dawn. If there's anyone who understands the desire to keep other people out of your personal business, it's me," he was quick to jump in, reminding Dawn of all scrutiny and hassle he'd gone through in the Wizarding World over the years. His face then softened. "I'm assuming your cheerful attitude is a positive sign of how your talk went with Buffy – she isn't planning any impromptu weddings or funerals, is she?"

The mention of either event somehow struck a nerve for Dawn. Firstly, with the possibility of their impending doom hanging over her for months on end and the loss of many close ones the past few years, she couldn't bear to think about the occurrence of any funerals in the near future. If anyone protecting her were to die, she knew it would be something she'd never be able to relieve herself of the guilt from. And then there was the other thing – if things didn't work out in their favour, like they hadn't for Harry's parents many years ago, she knew there was a chance that she wouldn't live to get married someday.

"Nope," she answered finally, shaking her head. "She freakin' surprised me there – she's actually pretty cool with us! If it weren't for the baby, I reckon it'd be a whole different story…"

Harry's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "That's brilliant, Dawn."

"No, you're brilliant. It was your idea," she pointed out, slightly tightening the hold her linked-arms had over his shoulders.

"Well, I suppose you owe me one then." His face was so calm and collected that she almost missed the tiniest mischievous edge to his voice, which now that she'd gotten to know Harry better, caught Dawn off-guard with a flutter in her stomach.

She quickly composed herself and threw him a less-subtle smile. "We can't have that – consider this payback, Potter."

Dawn used her arms to pull Harry against her and bring her lips to his. And instantly, like submerging into ice-cold water that took your breath away, the strong connection was there. So much so that after a few zealous moments of embraces, Dawn had found that she'd gotten slightly carried away and backed herself up against the wall beside the door, taking Harry with her. She was instantly reminded of the last time they'd found themselves in a similar position and immediately froze, Harry must have come to this realisation too because he pulled away fractionally to look at her, although she was having trouble reading what was going through his head at that particular time.

She let out an exhale breath in a mixture of amusement and uncertainty. "Hmm, the last time we were here, things got a little outta hand."

"We're ourselves this time, though," he pointed out softly.

Although he had a point, everything had changed since then.

"Doesn't mean I won't get carried away again," she couldn't stop herself from saying, feeling her cheeks heat up at the admission.

"I know what you mean," Harry replied quietly, surprising her. He threw her a smile when he noticed her slightly widened eyes.

They soon returned to their kissing, this time the kisses were much slower and softer, both well aware of their promise to take their relationship at a steady pace. Although Dawn was quite in the moment, it didn't prevent her from noticing a sudden uncomfortable jab from within her abdomen. Since they were in such close proximity, Harry had obviously felt it too because he came to a halt just as quickly as she did, pulling away enough to glance down at her protruding stomach.

"W-what…Was that-?" he began to ask.

"Yep," she simply replied, cutting him off with a nod.

It was the first time the baby had kicked when it was just the two of them, and both were awake. Dawn could tell from the look of Harry's face that he was intrigued by it but still felt a little awkward, like he didn't want to unintentionally cross any boundaries between them and upset what they had, even if they had been growing much closer.

"Go on, it's fifty per cent yours," she encouraged. "Which, I guess, technically means that my stomach is half yours, too." Harry looked as though he was unsure whether she was serious or not. "I'll say the right side, but if you touch anything left of the belly button…"

He finally gave a small, breathless laugh, finally releasing his arms from around her waist and pulling away, as he did so she felt another kick. He quickly knelt down so that he was at eye line with her stomach. "May I?" he asked.

She couldn't hide her amusement at his proper 'British-ness'. "Hey, if there's anyone who shouldn't have to ask…" she replied impatiently, feeling an unexpected need to share this moment with him. "Go on, already!"

Harry gently and nervously placed his hand on her abdomen, just below her belly button, however she quickly took his hand and moved it a couple of inches to the right.

"No, it's right here," she explained.

As if on cue, the baby kicked almost immediately, catching both of them by surprise. It certainly was the strongest one she'd felt yet. At first it'd felt like a little bubble in her stomach, but now it was quite distinctly the baby's movement, like a muscle spasm or someone was poking her stomach from the inside. Harry momentarily pulled his hand away, startled, before he softly placed it back. He was extremely silent for a few moments, staring at his hand in astonishment, then eventually looked up at Dawn.

"If I can feel that so clearly, then I can't imagine what it feels like for you," he said.

"It feels weird, that's the strongest it's-" she began, pensively glancing down at her stomach. Her attention was suddenly drawn towards Harry's hand. "Harry! Look!" she cried out frantically.

She stared in amazement at a distinctly green glow beneath Harry's hand.

"What i-is-" he stuttered, dumbstruck. As he pulled his hand away in alarm, the glowing light started to lessen.

"Wait!" she called out to stop him, she wanted to try something before it went away completely. "Put it back for a sec."

He moved his hand back to its original position. Dawn couldn't help but watch with a combination of fascination and disbelief as the glow emanating from her abdomen burned bright once more. Harry, who was just as surprised, started to move his hand back and forth to test the glow, which in response dimmed and then grew brighter time and time again, like when a child played with a dimmer switch. She knew she shouldn't have been so stunned, the baby clearly already knew when its father was nearby, but then again it had never displayed a physical sign until now.

"It knows," was all she could say.

"Can you feel anything different?" Harry asked curiously.

She shook her head. "Not beyond the usual."

An unexpected knock at the door beside them had Dawn jumping a mile, Harry stood back up in alarm, although probably more so at her surprise. She quickly apologised to him and then turned towards the door.

"Who is it?" she asked loud enough for whoever was on the other side, though not loud enough to wake the whole house.

"It's Buffy," Dawn heard her sister's muffled voice. She threw a look over at Harry, who had tensed up, looking like he was ready to make a disappearing act purely out of the habit of the past month or so. "Are you gonna let me in?" Buffy pressed when they didn't reply immediately.

She reached over and briefly grasped Harry's forearm, silently pleading him to stay, before she moved over and opened the door. When Buffy entered, her eyes immediately fell onto the teenage wizard, who was now standing somewhat awkwardly in the centre of the room, hands stuffed in his pockets. Though of course, after the earlier conversation Dawn had had with Buffy, the slayer wasn't really caught off guard by Harry's presence. This already had Dawn praising the idea to be open with her sister.

"Hey Harry," Buffy greeted; meanwhile Dawn caught the shocked look on his face at the casual tone. "What's going on? I mean, besides the obvious." Staring at Harry, she motioned to the corner of her mouth. He turned red as he hurriedly wiped Dawn's lip gloss off the side of his mouth.

Dawn quickly jumped in to save both of them from further embarrassment, even if she did feel her cheeks starting to glow with embarrassment. "Hey! You'll never believe what happened with Junior! See if it does it again, Harry," she said, motioning him over to her. "It was kicking just before and then…" she trailed off. She felt like now she was being honest with her sister that she should include anything interesting that the baby was doing too.

"I'm hoping not more of that apparating stuff," Buffy replied worriedly with a deep frown. "It really takes it outta you, Dawn."

She shook her head. "No, more like a cool, little party trick."

"It could be something more," Harry spoke up for the first time since Buffy had shown up. "With this prophecy and everything else that has been happening."

He reached over the gently placed his hand on the same location as it had been moments earlier; however Dawn soon felt immediate disappointment and confusion when nothing happened.

"That's weird, it was doing it not even five minutes ago!" she exclaimed, in the meantime Buffy was looking generally confused about the whole situation. "My stomach glowed when Harry put his hand there," she quickly explained as he withdrew his hand.

Meanwhile, Buffy had a somewhat sceptical expression, which really hit a nerve with Dawn. She was a slayer and had seen so many unbelievable and supernatural things over her life, so why did she always have trouble believing anything her younger sister said? It had always been like that when she was younger, but Dawn was seventeen now and, not to mention, would become a mother in a few months, so why did she still have to undermine her?

"She's right," Harry's voice brought her back from her thoughts; he must have noticed her internal frustration because suddenly he was backing her up. "We both saw it."

Buffy's eyes widened slightly and her eyebrows crept up her forehead. She was about to open her mouth to speak, however Dawn jumped in before she could.

"Okay, so not a cool party trick," she backpedalled, holding her hands up defensively. "Junior obviously has stage fright."

"You need to let us know if any weird stuff like that happens," Buffy said pointedly, directing her gaze between both her and Harry. "I mean, what with that apparating thing earlier and the whole protective bubble back at Hogwarts, if there's been a lot of other stuff going on, you should let me or Lupin know."

Dawn couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Whatdya think we're doing right now?"

"Hey, I'm only looking out for you guys!" the blonde snapped back. "I mean, how many things have you guys kept from me already?"

Dawn felt her anger bubbling; she wondered how many times Buffy was going to throw her past actions back in her face. Although, she just couldn't find the energy in herself to fight back, so she took a deep breath and glanced over at Harry, who seemed slightly uncomfortable with the disagreement brewing between her and Buffy. He'd taken several steps towards the window and had stuffed his hands into his pockets in evident awkwardness.

"Sorry," Buffy said suddenly in an almost whisper, catching Dawn by surprise. She was enjoying seeing more of this side of Buffy. "Just be careful, I don't like what the baby's magic tricks do to you, you look beat! Anyway, didn't come here to get stuck into you guys, just came to see how things are going between you guys. Judging by the whole situation with the lip gloss, things are good."

Although Dawn felt somewhat embarrassed from her sister's taunt, the expression on Harry's face indicated that he was more so. She couldn't stop a laugh from escaping her lips, even if she was aware that this would cause the wizard's humiliation to grow. Buffy joined in with her amusement, although she noticed that Harry was less than pleased at the two Summers women's entertainment at his discomfort.

"Anyway, 'night guys." The blonde suddenly headed back towards the door, simultaneously throwing Harry a look. "Look after her," she said softly. "She's the only artificially-created sister I've got."

* * *

><p><em><span>Three Weeks Later<span>_

Harry woke to Dawn squirming in the bed beside him, he hazily cracked an eye open to see her lying with her back facing him.

"Everything alright, Dawn?" he mumbled sleepily.

There was no response; the only sound was the whistling of the seaside wind past the bedroom window. She was obviously still fast asleep, although he noticed that she continued to appear unsettled in her sleep. This had become a regular thing, although Madam Pomfrey had warned them of this when she'd returned for Dawn's seventh month check-up, Harry knew there was something more to it. The past few weeks Dawn had been having many strange, recurring dreams. He wondered if this was another prophecy-related thing.

Meanwhile, things had settled into a comfortable routine at Shell Cottage. It had now reached a point where no one batted an eyelid when he followed Dawn upstairs each night, not to mention the freedom he now felt in being able to publicly display acts of affection, even if it was usually nothing more than running his fingers through hers or Dawn briefly reaching up and cradling his cheek in the palm of her hand. They certainly were growing closer and closer with each passing week. Even though they were both trying to be cautious by pacing the development of their relationship, the strengthening connection between them was sometimes making it hard to keep their heads in check when they were alone. However, when things got a bit out of hand, Dawn was fast to bring it to a halt reminding them of their 'mutual agreement' but Harry had a sneaking suspicion that there was more involved than she let on. He never pressed the issue, however, no matter how much his mind may have been telling him to sometimes.

There was also one other problem with the settled few weeks they'd had, their hunt for the remaining horcruxes had all but grinded to a halt. Harry knew that Hermione and Ron could see it too but they hadn't said anything, perhaps because of the whole situation with Dawn, who was progressing into the latter stages of her pregnancy. He'd made a promise to stand by her, one that he desperately wanted to keep, but how was he going to track down the remaining horcruxes if he was stuck at Shell Cottage? The thought of silently going off with Ron and Hermione and continuing what they had set out to do had crossed his mind many times, however, one glance at the brunette beside him was all it took to put a stop to those thoughts. If something ever happened to Dawn, or the baby, and he wasn't there… he would never be able to forgive himself.

Dawn's continuation of writhing in her sleep drew him from his sleepy musings, although he couldn't see her face because she was sleeping on her left side like Madam Pomfrey had recommended, he could tell that she was becoming increasingly unsettled.

"Dawn," he called out softly, scared of startling her.

When she didn't stir, he reached out to gently place a hand on her right shoulder. Everything blacked out in front of him and he was suddenly presented with flashes of different scenes before him. _A dark room with a glittering object in the distance. A blast of fire, anguished screams filling his ears. A strange ringing noise, whilst leading towards a large, wooden door. The door melting away to reveal a cave-like opening. Two golden objects side-by-side, one in the shape of a cup, the other an inscription that was difficult to read._

As suddenly as the visions had appeared, Harry found himself once again in the bedroom, staring down at Dawn's sleeping form.

"Blimey," Harry couldn't stop himself from exclaiming. _What the bloody hell was that?_ he wondered. He'd touched Dawn's shoulder and then it was almost as if… as if he had seen into her dreams. She'd only briefly mentioned them in the past; however they had never made any sense before.

Dawn unexpectedly let out an exhale breath, awkwardly rolling onto her back in the process. Harry watched as her eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to focus onto his confused and pensive features.

"You're doing that creepy, staring thingy again," were the first words to leave her lips, her voice thick with fatigue. She studied him further. "What? What's wrong? You kinda look like you've seen a ghost…" she groaned. "Okay, so Hogwarts has totally ruined that expression!"

"You were dreaming again," he replied. She nodded slowly as she pushed herself up to a seated position and waited for him to elaborate. "There was a large wooden door… and fire," he began.

He watched her face light up in surprise, followed closely by a deep frown. "How the hell did you-" she paused and glanced down at her abdomen. "Junior strikes again?"

He shrugged casually; he hadn't really had time to think about why or how it had all happened, but these days the baby tended to be the answer to anything strange going on between them. "Could be. You were fidgeting in your sleep, it looked like a particularly vivid dream this time, so I touched your arm to see if you were alright… and then I saw…" he trailed off. Well he didn't really know what he saw. Although, when the images flashed through his head once more, there certainly was something familiar about it but not completely known to him at the same time.

"Well, it's definitely gotta be trying to tell me something, why would I keep getting the same weirdo dreams?" Dawn jumped in. "Some bits were clearer this time, though – that shiny thing looked like a trophy or something."

Dawn's words triggered Harry's memory - yes, that particular image was one that stuck out to him. He suddenly recalled that there was something else beside it.

"There was an object beside it, too. It had an inscription that I couldn't quite make out," he said thoughtfully.

Dawn's eyes narrowed in concentration. "L…" she shook her head in frustration. "L – that's all I remember. But that trophy had an animal on it, a beaver or something. Pretty tacky, if you ask me."

_A trophy with an animal… a beaver,_ he thought to himself. _Who would engrave an animal on a cup?_

He was suddenly struck with another thought. "Dawn, it wasn't a badger, was it?"

"Hmm, it could've been," she replied slowly. "Does that make a difference?"

He nodded quickly. "Yes, the badger is the animal mascot of the Hufflepuff house – I think we saw Helga Hufflepuff's cup!" His voice grew louder as his excitement grew, feeling like they were finally getting somewhere.

At first, Dawn didn't seem to comprehend his sudden excitement, throwing him a confused look. However, moments later he could see the understanding slowly appear on her face.

"Another one of those horcrux-thingamabobs?" she asked.

"I think so," he replied with a nod.


	24. When They Plan a Heist

Disclaimer: None of these characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Harry Potter belong to me; I'm just using them to hopefully write an entertaining story.

Author's Note: Hello! Can I just say first off, thanks for the phenomenal response to the last chapter! (Over 10 reviews, the most I've ever gotten) I was amazed and extremely grateful! Secondly, I received a review from **Fenrir of the North** saying that Hogwarts wouldn't be safe because the Death Eaters were running it in DH. I'd just like to reiterate, as I'd already previously mentioned, that basically the book only applies up until Bill and Fleur's wedding and therefore the ministry hasn't fallen and nor has Hogwarts been taken over. I just had to clear that up, because it annoyed me that that user had deactivated PM-ing and I couldn't respond. Who knows if they'll see this. Oh well.

Anyway, enjoy this next chapter. Whilst it's been a bit slow moving the last few chapters, it's starting to pick up pace again.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Twenty-Four – When They Plan a Heist<span>

"Where are you going, Harry? It's the middle of the night!" Dawn exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

Harry was out of bed before she knew it, reaching for a jacket to put over his pyjamas. She didn't exactly understand his urgency at four o'clock in the morning, when they'd already gone so long without any new leads on the horcrux front.

He quickly turned to face her as he slung his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. "The images are still so fresh in my mind – if I go to sleep, I'm sure I'll forget many of the important details. I-I need to go tell Ron and Hermione, they can help figure this all out," he explained hurriedly, he then caught her dubious expression. "Don't worry, they're used to this sort of thing – it happened loads of times back at Hogwarts."

She found herself sighing, her dream-filled nights left her feeling lethargic and therefore she was more than reluctant to go traipsing around in the middle of the night. On the other hand, the sooner they found this next horcrux, the sooner the baby would stop giving her these cryptic dreams. With another deep sigh, she moved to push herself out of bed.

"Uh, you don't have to come, Dawn," he said. "Perhaps you should just get some more rest…"

"Not freakin' likely," she replied resolutely, snatching her dressing gown up from the back of the bedroom door.

"Well, maybe it can wait…" Harry back-tracked carefully, scratching the back of his head.

Dawn knew that he was just looking out for her and the baby, and deep down she was touched by the gesture, but right then and there it was annoying the hell out of her. She quickly thought about what Madam Pomfrey had warned her about, that she was going to experience ups and downs over the course of the pregnancy and feel especially tired or short of her tether at times.

She shook her head to herself as she slipped some warm boots on over her pyjama pants. She then reached up and pulled Harry by the front of his jacket. "Well, come on, Potter. Let's get this over with," she said impatiently, looking up to see his unprepared expression. "I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone as they went out into the hallway.

They carefully crept down the stairs, mindful of Shell Cottage's slumbering inhabitants, until they reached the front door. As Harry opened the door, they were hit with a wave of icy, winter air, and Dawn let out an involuntary shiver, her pyjamas certainly weren't made for outdoor purposes. Harry must have noticed this instantly, because it only took a matter of seconds before she felt a scarf and extra jacket being slung over her neck and shoulders. She immediately felt stupid for her grumpiness only moments earlier.

She turned to face Harry and was about to open her mouth to apologise for being so short with him, however he beat her to the chase. "Don't worry," was all he said, there was no unpleasantness in his tone.

"Thanks," she replied, leaning over to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

Harry lit his wand and the pair then promptly made their way out and across the yard and around towards the tent, which was pitched up beside the house. The faster they could get out of the winter air, the better. Dawn felt herself breathing a sigh of relief as she entered the warm interior of the tent first, while Harry held the flap open for her. She was extremely thankful of magic in that moment, the insulating and heating spells Hermione had cast were very effective, she knew that in any other circumstance camping out in the middle of winter was just asking to be frozen to death. Meanwhile, Harry was right behind her, quietly sealing up the tent entrance with a spell to prevent the heat from escaping.

Dawn shed the extra layers, she tried to get her bearings in the nearly pitch-black tent – it was difficult since Harry had put out the light on his wand, obviously wanting to be slightly less intrusive. As she shuffled carefully forward, she could hear the sound of Ron's snoring coming from the right of them and tried to follow her ears, only to bump her shin into a large square object in front of her. She refrained from crying out, she didn't want to scare the others but she couldn't prevent a soft 'ouch' from escaping her lips.

"Careful," Harry's concerned voice came from so close behind her that she felt his breath on the back of her neck, sending involuntary shivers down her spine.

A moment later, Dawn could suddenly make out the outlines of furniture in the tent. Harry had used _lumos_ once more; however he had the wand tucked under his shirt to dim the light enough to not startle the inhabitants of the tent awake.

"Thanks," she whispered, throwing him a warm smile, in which he quickly returned.

A sudden rustle of sheets caused their heads to snap back around.

"Harry… Dawn?" Hermione must have been a light sleeper because Dawn could make out her silhouette sitting upright in the bottom bunk of one of the two bunk beds that stood in the tent. "Is that you?" Her voice was thick with drowsiness.

"Yeah," Harry called back in a loud whisper. "Sorry if we frightened you, Hermione."

"No, you didn't scare me," she replied, Dawn could make out her slipping on her dressing gown, before she stood up and approached them. "Is something wrong? What are you both doing here in the middle of the night?" She looked between the two of them, her face only partially lit up by the dim light of Harry's wand.

Harry shook his head calm Hermione's fears. "No, everything's fine… but there's been a development with the horcrux search," he explained quietly.

"Getting straight to it – I've been having dreams about it, and long story short, we know what it looks like now," Dawn cut in, amused at how often Harry beat around the bush.

"Really?" Hermione stared at her with wide eyes, to which she nodded in the affirmative. "Although it couldn't have waited until the morning?" she questioned, stifling a yawn.

"His idea," Dawn chimed in, pointing at Harry, who threw her a small glare for being so quick to dob him in. "Hey, well it was! I was all for going back to sleep," she defended herself a little too loudly because Willow shifted in the bunk opposite Hermione's, the three of them looked over nervously for a moment until they were sure they hadn't woken her.

"Anyway," Hermione began in a soft whisper, turning back to them. "With Willow here, it's not exactly an ideal place to be discussing this… but I have an idea."

"You'd better wake Ron up then," Harry suggested to his friend.

After Hermione carefully woke up a very confused and sleepy Ron from the bunk above hers, she silently directed them towards the small kitchenette area they had in the tent, which had a small table with four chairs. It was in a sectioned off part of the tent, so all Hermione had to do was close off the flap to seal it off from the rest of the tent. Dawn then sat herself down at the table, so did a half-asleep Ron, while Harry and Hermione used spells to seal the section off so that there was no chance of Willow, or anyone else, overhearing them.

"What's going on, mate?" Ron directed tiredly at Harry. "It's not even bloody close to sunrise," he mumbled, his elbows propped up against the table were the only thing from stopping his heavy head from hitting the table.

"I wanted to tell you both while the information is still fresh – it's important," Harry explained as he and Hermione joined Dawn and Ron at the table. "I think that the next horcrux is Helga Hufflepuff's cup, I saw it in a dream… it makes sense."

Hermione's eyes widened in excitement. "Of course! I'm not surprised, the other horcruxes have been connected to the other founders, it was bound to be something connected to Hufflepuff…" she paused and then turned to look at Dawn. "Hold on, I thought you said that you had the dream."

Dawn nodded. "Harry dream-dropped on me," she explained, to which Ron and Hermione both threw her looks of confusion. "I was the one sleeping, so you should fill them in, Harry," she said, briefly reaching over the table to give his hand a quick squeeze. Right then, she realised how natural those kinds of subtle gestures had become between them.

She then listened as Harry launched into the whole story about how he'd touched Dawn to see if she was okay while she was sleeping, and had then quite bizarrely seen into her dreams. He described each scene exactly as Dawn had remembered, which was a little unnerving for her – people weren't normally supposed to share or see into someone else's dreams. She glanced down at her stomach. _Seriously, are you gonna give us this much trouble once you come out?_ she silently projected to the baby.

Meanwhile, Harry finished retelling the events of the past hour. Hermione was first to respond. "Hmm, so we know what it is, we just don't know where," she thought out loud. "Although, the place you described sounds so familiar." From the corner of her eye Dawn saw Harry nod in agreement.

Ron had been pretty silent so far, even to the point that Dawn was wondering whether he'd fallen back to sleep again with his eyes open. "You know, it sounds like Gringotts to me," he finally spoke up.

"Yes, of course!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed simultaneously, causing Dawn to jump a little in her seat from the loudness of it.

The trio proceeded to hypothesise about this place 'Gringotts', which Dawn may have recalled being mentioned at some stage, however she couldn't remember just exactly when or what it was and she felt very much out of the loop. This seemed to happen often when she was hanging out with the other three. She was just some stupid American, who didn't have that much knowledge of the Wizarding World. In fact, sometimes she wondered what she had to offer, besides what the baby growing inside her was capable of.

"I'm just not sure who would have Hufflepuff's cup in their vault, and why, for that matter," Dawn tuned in to hear Harry say. "We know that Voldemort's father was a muggle, but what about his mother's side? Do you think they had a vault?"

"Huh, vault?" she questioned dumbly.

She watched the realisation dawn on Harry's face that she would have absolutely no idea what they were talking about, followed by an expression of guilt. "Oh-"

"Gringotts is our equivalent of a muggle bank," Hermione cut in to explain. "They also have vaults, where families can store their money and keepsakes. Some of the older wizarding families are said to have had vaults at Gringotts for centuries."

"I've never been down there because our vault is not too far down, but I've heard Bill say that the largest, oldest vaults are the deepest down," Ron added, suddenly triggering Dawn's memory that the reason she'd heard of Gringotts was because Bill worked there. "Although, I've also heard that the security of those vaults is quite extreme."

"That's it!" Hermione cried out. "Ron – you're a genius!" She leant over to place a fast kiss on his cheek.

Ron turned a bright shade of red that matched his hair. "Uh… thanks?" he replied uncertainly, clearly unsure of where Hermione's enthusiasm had come from.

"Well, don't you see? It all makes sense now!" the witch began. "If Voldemort had gotten his hands on Hufflepuff's cup and used it to hide of piece of his soul, like the other horcruxes he has tried to hide it somewhere safe – there's no safer place than Gringotts."

"Yes, we've established that, Hermione," Harry said bluntly, looking like he wanted her to get straight to the point.

"Well, I'm not sure if the Gaunt family had or have a Gringott's vault, but I'm assuming that because he was an orphan as a child and not many people knew that he was connected to the Gaunt family, that it wouldn't have been easy to hide there, even if there was a vault." While Hermione ranted on, Dawn found herself tiredly pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing that she was in way over her head in new information. "Anyway, I can think of a few old, wizarding families that he would entrust in the keepsake of a horcrux – the Dolohovs, the Carrows, the Lestranges or the Malfoys… " she trailed off.

"It has to be the Malfoys," Harry chimed in, Dawn noticed a certainty in his voice.

Ginny had told her the story of the Malfoys, how Lucius Malfoy had planted that diary in amongst the Weasley's things back when Ginny was younger. She'd also discovered from Harry that Dumbledore had told him that the diary was one of the horcruxes. Something was telling her that he hadn't entrusted another horcrux with the Malfoys when he'd gone to so much effort to spread them out, even if Harry sounded so sure. Besides that, there was someone else mentioned that had drawn her attention.

"Nope, I don't think so," Dawn said with the shake of her head, all three looked at her with surprise and curiosity. "What was that second last one, Hermione?"

"Lestrange."

She closed her eyes and tried to picture the image in her dream. Both her and Harry had tried to figure out what was beside Hufflepuff's cup and all she could remember at the time was the letter 'L'. However, suddenly the memory came through clearer.

"That's it!" Dawn called out. "I couldn't remember that word before, but now I'm totally sure that it said 'Lestrange'."

"What word?" Hermione and Ron both appeared confused, it was only then that she realised that her and Harry had left out that particular detail.

"Dawn and I both noticed something sitting next to the cup, only we couldn't figure out what the inscription on it said… well, until now," Harry jumped in the explain, throwing Dawn a proud smile.

Dawn smiled back, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. "So where do we go from here?"

Harry leant forward with a serious expression, his hands clasped together and resting on the table. "We have to break into Gringotts."

Even though Dawn didn't know much about it, from what she'd just heard and the overwhelmed expressions on the faces of the other two teenagers, she knew that this was a difficult task. Especially with the current situation, since they were all in hiding and wanted people, leaving Shell Cottage for any of them could be potentially fatal.

"Bloody hell," was all Ron could muster.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Harry and the other three spent a lot of time plotting just how exactly they were going to pull off such a feat. This hadn't gone unnoticed by the other occupants of the cottage, especially since the teenagers had spent hours shut away in secrecy. However, they were yet to say anything. Meanwhile, there had been many ideas thrown up about how they were going to retrieve the horcrux, although most weren't particularly good ones, likely to result in their deaths or incarceration. Harry noticed that Dawn was usually quieter than her usual self during these brainstorming sessions; however he was yet to say anything on the matter. In fact, he wanted Dawn there to know all about what they were planning, perhaps throw in any good ideas, but in his mind there was absolutely no way she would be participating in their scheme – she was seven months pregnant, for Merlin's sake!<p>

"You know what? I don't see any other way; I believe we're going to have to use this…" Hermione trailed on one particular day that the four of them had hauled themselves up in the sitting room by the fireplace. She'd brought her small beaded bag with her from the tent, which she opened and placed on the floor. "_Accio polyjuice_," she called out with a flick of her wand, a large vial appearing in her hand.

"Polyjuice?" Harry exclaimed. "Why didn't you mention you had some before?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'd almost forgotten I had it – it has been a while since I packed this bag."

"What's that?" Dawn questioned, screwing up her face. "It looks gross!"

Harry shifted slightly on his seated position on the floor to face Dawn, who he'd insisted take Bill's armchair. "It's called Polyjuice Potion, it can temporarily transform you to look like someone else, all you need is a piece of them, like a hair."

Dawn looked amazed. "Wow, that sounds awesome!" she said excitedly.

"But how are we going to use it?" Ron asked. "It's not as if we have Bellatrix Lestrange's hair lying around! I've also heard from Bill that they've really stepped up security at Gringotts in recent times."

Hermione let out a deep breath. "Well, we obviously can't go as ourselves either. However, there is someone else's DNA that we have access to that would allow us to get into Gringotts relatively inconspicuously…" Harry was still unsure of where she was going with her idea, while Ron also had his eyebrows knitted together in deep thought..."And, we'd have increased access to parts of Gringotts that the general wizarding public wouldn't."

"A-are you saying we going into Gringotts as Bill? That we steal some of his DNA?" Harry stammered, surprised that Hermione would suggest such a thing.

Hermione was about to open her mouth before an angry Ron beat her to the chase. "Hermione! He's my brother! We can't do that – h-he could lose his job… or worse!"

"I don't like it any better than you do, Ron!" Hermione fought back angrily. "But what other choice do we have? We've spent days discussing it – we know there's no other way we are getting into Gringotts, and if we don't get that horcrux…" Harry could see the stress of forming a plan was taking its toll on the witch, as she ran her hands over her face and sighed. "I'm sure we can figure out a way to make sure that Bill doesn't get in any trouble, make sure that they know it was an intruder. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were security measures able to detect that sort of thing."

"Then that just defeats the whole purpose of disguising someone as Bill," he pointed out impatiently.

Hermione was fast to shake her head. "No… I don't think it does. We just need something to get out foot in the door without anyone knowing it's us. And if we manage to get by undetected, that's even better."

Harry looked over at Ron sitting on the floor next to him; he could tell that his support for Hermione's plan was less than concrete, with good reason. "I don't know…" he trailed off quietly.

"Well there's just enough Polyjuice for two of us, so I would be able to disguise myself as Fleur," Hermione continued on, ignoring Ron's hesitance.

Harry was reminded that Fleur also worked at Gringotts, he knew that the Frenchwoman had been working part-time prior to their arrival at Shell Cottage, although in light of all the guests, Fleur had severely cut back her hours and he had only seen her go to work only a handful of times during their stay.

"And I have the invisibility cloak," Harry added, whilst he was still somewhat unsure, he couldn't help but admit that Hermione's idea was pretty much all they had at that particular point in time.

Dawn's head snapped around to look down at him in surprise. "So, you're on board with it?" she asked him, to which he shrugged non-committedly. She threw glances around between him and the other two. "'Kay then, what's my role in all of this?"

_Her role?_ he asked himself. She didn't think that she would be helping them, did she? His brows knitted together in confusion. "Dawn, what do you mean?"

She sat forward on her chair eagerly. "I'm helping you guys – where do I fit in Hermione's plan?"

"You _don't_," Harry quickly replied, disbelievingly. "You're not going!"

The next moment, Dawn had pushed herself out of the chair and stared down at him angrily. "E-excuse me!" she stuttered. "Why the hell not?!"

"Uh, Dawn-" Hermione calmly tried to intervene, however Harry quickly cut her off as he also leapt to his feet.

"You must be joking, Dawn!" he shot back. "In case you haven't noticed – you're seventh months pregnant! There's _no way_-"

Dawn's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "Hey! You sound like fucking Buffy! Geez, you don't own me, Harry! I can do whatever the hell I want!"

Considering how close they been getting, her words cut into Harry like hundreds of tiny knives. Also, that was his baby that she wanted to put in harm's way, he thought he deserved a say in what happened, even if he did sort of understand her reaction. That being said, his anger at her blatant disregard of his opinion overshadowed any deeper understanding he had at that moment.

"You're being ridiculous, Dawn!" He exhaled loudly in frustration. "Don't I deserve a say in what happens to the baby? It'd be too dangerous to-"

"RIDICULOUS?" Her voice had reached a whole new level of anger. "I wouldn't be so freakin' _'ridiculous'_ if you weren't being such a controlling asshole right now!" she spat back before turning on her heel and stomping out of the room. She paused in the open door, throwing Harry one last fuming glance. "_Seriously_…" she grumbled, slamming the door on her way out.

Harry groaned, scrunching his face up and running his hands over his eyes. Whilst they had their little disagreements, he and Dawn had certainly never fought like this before, and not to mention, in front of other people. He felt frustrated, embarrassed and furious at both Dawn and himself all at the same time. He carefully managed a look at his shocked two best friends – Ron was wide-eyed and silent, whilst Hermione looked both disapproving and thoughtful.

How had he let the situation escalate out of control so fast? There was no doubt that Dawn's request was completely out of the question, but the more he thought about it the more he realised that perhaps he went about it the wrong way. It had come from so far out of left field that his reaction was definitely harsher than it could have been. He didn't want to see Dawn in any more danger. Meanwhile, another question that kept playing through his head was – why had Dawn been so insistent on such a dangerous and insane idea in the first place?

Just as Hermione stepped towards him, Harry quickly brought a hand up to stop her. "Don't even start, Hermione, I know…" he said a little too severe than he intended, before also departing the room.

* * *

><p>"Something's going on, Will," Buffy pointed out suspiciously, as the pair sat together in the kitchen.<p>

The slayer leant back in her chair so that she could get a good view out into the entry hall and across towards the closed door of the sitting room. Willow momentarily stood up and craned her neck over to do the same, before she sat back down and resumed nursing her cup of coffee.

The redhead simply shrugged. "It could be nothing. I mean, Dawnie was gonna stop with all the secrets and whatnot."

Buffy shook her head. "She keeps saying that, but something about Harry and his friends seems to encourage that sorta thing." She sighed. "They've been sneaking off and plotting something for days."

"Maybe the best thing is to straight out ask her what's going on," Willow suggested.

The faint sound of a crack from outside the front of the cottage got both women's attention. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy noticed Willow grip her coffee mug tighter, whilst she herself felt her whole body automatically tense up. Even though there were many comings and goings with Remus and Madam Pomfrey's visits, as well as Bill and Fleur's journeys to and from work, Buffy couldn't help but feel herself on guard when she heard a new arrival. She knew that her fear was generally unfounded, Shell Cottage was an extremely well-protected place, however Buffy found that as the prophesised baby in Dawn's stomach grew, so did an unsettled feeling deep in the pit of her own stomach.

Holding her breath, whilst also ready to get her slayer on at a moment's notice, the blonde let out a strong sigh of relief when Lupin appeared through the front door. "Geez, you could've called ahead," she muttered quietly.

Lupin frowned. "Could have called what?" he questioned. She often found herself making references to things that the wizards and witches had no idea about. Lupin shrugged indifferently and shed his cloak before entering the kitchen. "Good afternoon, ladies," he greeted.

Stepping into the kitchen, Lupin threw an inquisitive glance at the unusual occurrence of the closed door across the hall. Meanwhile, Willow made more of an effort to greet the werewolf, while Buffy mumbled a lazy reply, her thoughts back on her secretive sister. Lupin must have observed her preoccupancy because he stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologised quickly. "Am I interrupting something?" he questioned, looking between the two women.

Willow shook her head. "No, Buffy's just worried about Dawn again."

Lupin looked alarmed, turning to face Buffy. "Is she alright?"

"Dawn and 'the troublesome trio' in there have been plotting who-the-hell-knows-what for days." Buffy decided to cut straight to the point, considering she'd already seen him notice the closed door across the entry hall. "Do you know what's the deal with that?"

"No, I'm afraid I-" he began, only to be quickly cut off.

"_Seriously,_" Dawn's angry voice carried into the kitchen, followed by the sound of a slamming door.

The ferocity in her sister's voice immediately caught her attention, so Buffy sprang to her feet and stepped towards the entry hall, soon trailed by Lupin and Willow. She had decided then and there that she was going to get to the bottom of this; Dawn wasn't going to skirt around the issue with her again.

"Dawn," she said perhaps a little firmer than she needed to.

The brunette looked over at her and covered her face while she let out a large groan. "What?" the younger girl replied impatiently.

"Are you alright?" Lupin intervened softly, somewhat diffusing the situation, for which Buffy was thankful.

Dawn sighed, eventually shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"What's going on, Dawn?" Buffy persisted. "What have you guys been planning?"

"Besides Harry being an a-hole?" Dawn asked rhetorically, catching them all by surprise, especially Buffy, who had seen the pair becoming closer as time went on and so she was surprised to hear such a comment. She wondered what could cause such a rift between them. "Anyway, beside the point… it's not my thing to tell," she pointed her thumb back at the door behind her. "Ask Mr High and All-mighty." Without another word, she turned and stamped her way up the stairs.

Buffy had barely had time to recover before the door to the lounge opened up again to reveal a dejected Harry, she watched as his face hardened when he spotted the three of them standing there. Whilst she was trying to be thoughtful and calculated around Dawn, she certainly didn't see any need to be so around the boy who'd knocked up her sister.

"What did you do to Dawn?" she asked with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

He ran his hand through his hair in obvious frustration. "I was only looking out for her!" he defended, making a move towards the stairs.

Buffy swiftly put an arm out to stop him. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

The blonde was beginning to lose her patience. Here she was a slayer, protecting people was in her nature, and yet the two (well, technically three) people she had specifically gone out of her way to protect certainly weren't making it easy. Furthermore, even though she felt obligated to protect Harry, she knew that her sister would always come first and also that at times it might even involve protecting her from Harry himself. Dawn had been pretty worked up.

Harry stopped and looked Buffy straight in the eye. "I need to talk to Dawn."

"No way," she quickly retorted. "I want some answers, mister." Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help but briefly ponder the fact that she was starting to sound like her mother. It was amusing and depressing at the same time.

"Harry," Lupin spoke up. "Buffy and Willow inform me that the four of you have been rather secretive, they're concerned that you are planning something dangerous… surely something that the Order should be made aware of."

The younger wizard shook his head stubbornly. "No, I-I can't say. I… er, I made a promise to Dumbledore."

"The old Hogwarts Headmaster?" Willow questioned, to which Harry nodded.

"Dumbledore?" Lupin said with surprise. "This is something that he kept from the Order?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "He couldn't risk it accidentally or intentionally getting back to Voldemort…" He looked uncomfortable talking about the subject. "I-I really can't say anything more."

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "But Dawn knows? You didn't have an issue with putting her in danger."

"Who are we kidding? She's already in danger," Harry pointed out, much to Buffy's distaste. He looked around the group. "We all are… She's a part of this; I thought she deserved to know. I need to talk to…"

He made another move towards the staircase, this time Buffy decided to let him pass with a sigh. She felt like she was getting nowhere with both teenagers, so she thought it was best to let them sort out whatever was wrong first. Although, she certainly wasn't going to keep them far out of her sight, if she could help it.

* * *

><p>Dawn stared up at the ceiling, tears of frustration flowing from the corners of her eyes. She'd felt useless and helpless when she was living back in Sunnydale, but that didn't even compare to the way she'd been feeling since the prophecy had appeared and she'd gotten pregnant. Of course, she knew that it would be dangerous to leave Shell Cottage in her condition, with half the Wizarding World looking for her, but she wanted some control over her fate. If she'd learnt one thing from Buffy, it was that she couldn't just sit there and watch when there was a big evil out there who wanted to kill her. To see all the people she cared about risk their lives for her…<p>

And then there was Harry, his hard-hitting attitude before was just enough to send her over the edge. She'd spent enough time having Buffy decide everything for her, and because of that she hated having someone tell her what to do, he surely should have known that by now. How dare think that he could just order her around because she was having his child!

A sudden tingling in her stomach, followed by a warm sensation washing over her, brought her angry thoughts to a sudden halt. Harry was just outside the door. She awkwardly shuffled herself up to a seated position and glanced down at her stomach. _Hey, don't do that right now, I'm angry at him!_ she silently cursed the baby.

"Dawn," she heard his muffled voice softly call out.

She wiped her eyes. "Go away, Harry," she ordered stubbornly.

He gave a loud sigh. "Dawn, please."

No matter how annoyed she was with him, the remorse in his voice caused her to think twice. He probably deserved at least a chance to apologise… if they were still fighting by bedtime, she would be in for a pretty sleepless night. _Thanks to the baby's stupid tricks_, she grumbled internally.

"Fine then," she finally responded, crossing her arms.

The door gradually opened, Harry cautiously peeking a head in before slowly entering the room. Dawn immediately saw the guilt etched upon his features, and whilst this did tug at her heartstrings slightly, she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. She remained silent with her arms still angrily crossed, resting on her protruding belly.

He sighed loudly, not moving much past the doorway. "Listen, Dawn. I'm really sorry about before." He looked thoughtful, carefully piecing together his words. "Uh, the meaning behind what I was saying was right… but maybe the method was wrong."

"You betcha, it was wrong – I'm not someone you can just order around, Harry!" she snapped back. "I already have Buffy on my case for that."

He inched his way over to sit on the bed opposite her. Although, she could see that he was still trying to give her space, seating himself near the foot of the bed. Meanwhile, his eyes never left hers and despite how upset she was with him, his stare still caused those involuntary tingles down her spine.

"I know," he replied quietly. "I think I overacted because… well, I-…" Dawn's breath caught in her throat for a moment in anticipation of his next words. "I-I can't lose you, Dawn."

Those words instantly melted away any cold feelings Dawn had. She was annoyed at herself for giving in so easy, but she knew how he felt – she didn't exactly like the idea that he would be off breaking into highly secure, and highly dangerous magical banks. She slowly uncrossed her arms. Harry obviously saw this as a sign that she was letting her guard down because he scooted closer to her until they were sitting side by side. She saw this as an opportunity to rest her head on his shoulder, and just like that, the momentary rift was mended. She wished all fights could be fixed so easily, but maybe it was just because it was with Harry; she knew that it would never be that easy when it came to Buffy.

She took a deep breath as he swung his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'm sorry, too… I- I know how you feel. But seriously, don't you dare pull a Buffy on me again!" She felt his head move into a quick nod. "Besides, we've got more important things to worry about – like pulling off the world's greatest heist." He angled his head to gaze down at her. "I can at least help you guys plan it. I could totally teach you guys a thing or two – I've seen Ocean's Eleven at least three times!"

"That's a movie, right?" Harry questioned slowly, confusion etched on his face.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, this place needs a TV already!"

* * *

><p>The four teenagers continued to plot their daunting raid on Gringotts, although Dawn noticed that even though the other three had actually visited the bank, that there was still so much that they didn't know and that worried her. It was like planning to break into Buckingham Palace, but then throwing magic into the mix. Absolutely crazy… Meanwhile, Buffy had seemed to accept that they couldn't tell her what was happening because she hadn't asked them again, but she did seem to keep an extra close eye on them. They had managed to all eventually agree on the Polyjuice idea, although Buffy's watchful eye made it difficult to even obtain the hair they needed for the potion, not to mention, perhaps some of Bill and Fleur's clothes for Ron and Hermione to wear.<p>

One afternoon, Dawn by some miracle had managed a nap without the close proximity of Harry, who was outside in the tent with Ron, Buffy and Willow, trying to learn more new defences from the two women. She silently thanked the baby; it was exactly what she needed and she certainly didn't want to burden Harry every time she was low on energy from the pregnancy. She awoke feeling like she could take on the world – even if she did slightly struggle lifting her extra weight up out of bed!

She peacefully wandered her way out of the bedroom, wondering if everyone else was still outside, with the exception of Bill and Fleur, who were visiting Bill's parents. Fleur had extended the invitation in joining them to everyone else, however a look of guilt soon passed over her features when she realised that she couldn't really offer the same to Dawn. Although she completely understood, it didn't stop the pang of sadness that passed through her. Shaking her thoughts of the past events before she got depressed again, Dawn tuned back in to the present to notice that the house was completely silent. Her stomach let out a loud grumble, reminding her to keep her nutrition up, so she decided to venture down to the kitchen for a snack.

As she turned to descend the staircase, she craned her head to the right to see a door slightly ajar. _Bill and Fleur's bedroom, _she thought loudly, suddenly struck with a sneaky idea. She may have felt pretty useless the past few months, but she knew what she could do to make herself feel even slightly useful. She saw the opportunity and so she took it, quickly wandering across and entering the room before she could think better of it. There was no doubt that she felt guilty about riffling through the Weasley couple's things when they'd been so generous of the past couple of months, so Dawn had to keep telling herself that this was all for the greater good and that they would understand in time.

The first thing that Dawn noticed about the bedroom was that it certainly had taken inspiration from the nature surrounding the cottage, decorated in soft creams and blues – it was a very calming room. After a moment of admiring the décor, she shook her head and focused on the task at hand. The most important thing was that she obtained some hair from both Bill and Fleur. She scanned the room, her eyes falling to the dressing table beside the door. Much to Dawn's delight, there lay what was clearly Fleur's hairbrush, strands of shiny gold hair entangled in amongst its bristles.

As she moved to pick the brush up, she was struck with her first dilemma_. I can't just steal this, someone will probably notice,_ she thought rationally. Furthermore, she didn't want to have to raid their room more than once, even if she had done her share of stealing things in the past. With her growing belly she didn't exactly feel like the stealthiest person, and besides, she'd put that particular part of her past behind her.

There was a loud clink of glass on the dressing table in front of her, right after she'd picked up the hairbrush. She momentarily held her breath at her clumsiness, just praying that everyone was still outside, otherwise there was a possibility that they may have heard her. She looked down at the source of the noise to see that she'd knocked over a couple of empty, small potion bottles.

"Perfect," she said quietly to herself, snapping one of the bottles up in a hurry.

She swiftly plucked several hairs from the brush and deposited them into the potion bottle, firmly securing the lid.

_Now Bill_, she told herself, as she picked up the second vial. _Lucky he's a redhead, his hair almost has its own beacon._

After subtly rummaging for several moments, Dawn couldn't see any obvious sign of a hairbrush Bill had used, so she decided to get more creative in her hunt. She walked over towards their wardrobe, hoping for some stray hairs that had fallen onto clothing he had worn. She studied a coat that was hanging on what Dawn could only presume was his side of the wardrobe, to no prevail. Letting out a frustrated sigh, her hands fell on her hips as her eyes began to scan the shelves. A knitted hat with a pom-pom on top caught her attention. She almost let out a cheer of triumph when she looked inside the hat and found two red hairs, they were the same length as Bill's hair so she almost certain that they didn't belong to any of the other Weasley's.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she knew that the other three would be happy with her efforts and she herself was happy to feel like she was making a contribution, however minute it was. Not wanting to be caught with the stolen goods, she quickly tucked the small vials into her top, her growing figure made them easier to conceal. _At least the weight gain came in handy for something_, she thought to herself as she made her way to the door. She cracked the door open and peered out to see if she was in the clear. Satisfied, she hastily exited out onto the first floor landing. Voices from downstairs caught her attention, so she spun around and faced the door so that she could shut it as quietly as possible.

"Dawn?" Sudden footsteps from behind startled her and she jumped around to face the culprit.

Lupin was coming towards her from the other side of the staircase; she guessed that he was coming from her bedroom and must have been trying to find her. However, she wondered why she couldn't recall hearing him come up the staircase. _Was is he, a freakin' ninja?_ she asked herself.

"I was just coming to find you," he explained, she noticed that he looked quite serious – probably because he'd just caught her red-handed. "What were you doing in Bill and Fleur's bedroom?"

_Shit, think quick! _"Oh, um, I-I borrowed some perfume off Fleur," she stuttered stupidly. "Uh, I was just returning it."

Although she thought the excuse was quite legitimate, she mentally scolded herself for the delivery of it. However, Lupin didn't press the issue any further, so she was starting to believe that he bought it. Studying his reaction, she suddenly began to pick up on urgency in the werewolf's manner.

"W-what's wrong?" she asked cautiously.

He took in a deep breath. "I've just got word from Kingsley – there's been an attack," he stumbled on his words for a moment, clearly rattled. "It's Madam Pomfrey."


End file.
